Here and Now
by MissWritingStoriesObsessed
Summary: Twenty years ago, Mike and Andrea were inseparable, but in the end, Mike chose the Navy over her. Twenty years later, they're back together, serving on the same ship, under the same Captain, fighting against the same threat. But sometimes, in the middle of all the chaos and panic, one thing is utterly clear. Mike/Andrea. Set season one. Slightly A/U.
1. Chapter 1

**Here and Now.**

New Mike and Andrea story! Thank you so much to **'novemberjuliet'** for this amazing idea, this one is a little a/u. So, I will outline the key facts. We are talking about the human trials, but they come about a little differently in this story and Mike was never a cop, instead, he joined the military aged seventeen, and he and Andrea met while in the academy.

So, this story is set in season one, with tiny hints of Danny and Kara, too.

(Very Tom and Sasha, I know, but I promise, I not stealing that storyline – or at least I hope I'm not!)

Twenty years ago, Mike and Andrea were inseparable, but in the end, Mike chose the Navy over her. Twenty years later, they're back together, serving on the same ship, under the same Captain, fighting against the same threat. But sometimes, in the middle of all the chaos and panic, one thing is utterly clear.

Mike and Andrea pairing, coming together after twenty years apart.

Reviews are welcome, loved and appreciated! Enjoy! **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

"So, you mean putting six of my crew at risk, almost certainly putting them to death, is the only way you can cure this virus?" Tom had gone past shock, now he was in disbelief, and Mike couldn't blame him.

What Dr Scott was suggesting seemed mad, unsafe, and something Tom Chandler would never agree to, but a part of Mike had to believe it would work, after all, she was the scientist.

"What, if we were to do it, would it involve?" Slattery asked from his chair at the table. The three of them had been talking for well over an hour, but the conversation didn't show any signs of ending. Both men, and possibly Dr Scott needed an answer before leaving the room, a yes or no.

"We're not doing it," Tom said before Rachel could speak. Mike raised his hand a little.

"Okay, hypothetically, if we were to do these tests, what are we looking at? Tom, we have to consider this, I don't want it any more than you do, but we're fighting blind here, we need some kind of cure or at least some progress as we get closer to the mainland." Mike made his point, and not that he always thought he was right, but he could see Dr Scott nodding.

Whether it was a human trial or a test on a monkey or even a sign from God himself, they needed to make progress, they needed something to work with, something Rachel could get information from, something they could use to get a head start on stopping the virus that was bringing the world to its knees.

"We would inject them, with the strain of the virus, and then, inject them with the prototype of the cure. From then on, we would check symptoms, and try to work out what needs changing and what doesn't, who reacts well and who doesn't. It would include tests every three hours, and potentially the injection of multiple cure samples we have in the lab," Rachel was interrupted by Tom who still looked to be in disbelief.

"This could kill them, and I hate to say it, but if you could be a hundred percent certain that from their deaths you could get a cure, you could save everyone else, then maybe, I would be a little more open to this, but you can't promise us that. They are my crew, they are my responsibility, and while on this ship, they are my family, so, if you think I am going to risk losing another six members of my family, Dr Scott, you need to come up with something a little more convincing than tests, potential cures and monkeys." Dr Scott nodded in understanding.

"Okay, what if I told you I already have six crew members willing to put their lives at risk?" Both men looked up at the doctor in shock.

"You went over my head?" Mike watched as the chair Tom was sitting in hit the wall as he pushed it back to stand.

"Captain,"

"How dare you!" Mike remained quiet, wondering which six of the Nathan James' crew would sign up for this, but then again, he knew all of them would have signed up for this is needed. Fear wouldn't have come into it, it was the same will they all shared to serve their country.

"Which six?" Mike asked, interrupting the staring constant between Tom and Rachel.

"Which six put their names down for the human trials, Dr Scott?" Mike asked again after getting their full attention.

Rachel handed Mike a sheet of paper with six names written down, with their rank, age, and gender. As he scanned through the list of six names, he thought up at least five reasons as to why each one shouldn't do it, but on the other hand, they were some of the most dedicated sailors onboard, so he could see why they would.

"I'm going to go and talk to them. You two can have this out as long as you want. Maybe something will come to you, Dr Scott, another way around this?" Mike suggested almost in a cool tone as he left the room.

* * *

Moving through the ship he walked onto the bridge, his eyes landing on the Master Chief quickly. He moved over to the older man, motioning to the hatch behind him, sending a clear message that they needed to have a conversation, in private, now.

"XO,"

"Master Chief, I heard about what you signed up for." Mike heard Russ sigh and could only imagine what was going through his mind.

"I thought Dr Scott had cleared it with the Captain," Mike shook his head.

"No, she used the six names to try and convince him, I assume they're still staring each other down in the CO stateroom. We're trying to find another way, or Dr Scott is at least, but I wanted to see how all six of you were holding up. This isn't something to be taken lightly." Russ nodded in understanding.

"I want to, Sir. I took an oath to serve and protect the homeland, and if I need to die to ensure everyone else lives, then so be it. I believe that God put me on this earth for a reason, I believe he took away my wife and daughter for a reason, so I believe that he has put me on this ship in the middle of a pandemic for a reason. Your faith may not be as strong as mine, but maybe God sent me here to do this."

"Russ, I won't argue with you, but this trial, it will be a living hell. All of the stuff going into your body, the side effects, you could die in these trials."

"But if I die, then, Dr Scott will have something to work with, and I hope that if it comes to me dying that it will be to save everyone else aboard this ship." Russ put a hand on Mike's shoulder.

"XO, I understand your concern, but if this could potentially save thousands of lives, I have to go through with it." Mike couldn't argue with the man, so instead, he gave him a short nod, before dismissing him.

He took a moment before pulling the sheet of paper out of his pocket, looking down the list of names.

Tex he didn't know well enough, but the guy seemed up for anything, so Mike didn't think it was right to question his motives, but he would go and talk to the man, give him some support.

He was sure by now they all knew that if they walked into that tent in sickbay, they may never walk out.

The other names, they were people he could talk to.

Kara Foster, Eric Miller, Maya Andrews, and Ryan Wilson.

* * *

"Miller, Andrews, a word?" Mike said from the door of the crew lounge.

The pair got up, both of them looking at each other as if they'd been called into the principles office for throwing water balloons off the roof.

"Sir," They said in unison.

Mike gave them a nod, before motioning for them to follow him down the passageway to the wardroom which was empty.

"I heard about you signing up for the human trials Dr Scott is performing." Mike began, knowing both of them would give the same answer, just like the Master Chief had done in the beginning. It was all about serving their country.

"Dr Scott said that testing on humans could potentially help speed up finding a cure. We already know how bad this virus is, and we could have a shot at stopping it, Sir." Miller explained, looking to Maya quickly, who nodded as well.

"You both understand how dangerous these trials are? You could potentially die,"

"Sir, if I may, we knew that when we joined the Navy," Mike held up his hands, interrupting her.

He sighed, nodding in understanding, they both had a point, potential death was in the job description.

"I understand, but I just wanted to make sure you knew the risks and exactly what you were signing up for. The Captain and Dr Scott are talking it over to see if there is any other way we can do this, and while I hope there is, if not, I wanted to make sure you are both one hundred percent certain you want to take part in these trials."

Both sailors nodded, showing how willing they were to go through what even Dr Scott describe as hell.

"Dismissed." Mike had nothing more to say to them.

They both nodded to the Executive Officer, before leaving the wardroom.

Mike stood alone for a moment, thoughts running through his mind. He wasn't sure if any of the six would openly admit that they didn't want to do it, or at least if they would admit it to him. As much as he wanted to find the cure and go home, and have his family and everyone else in the world safe, he didn't know if he could watch six innocent and dedicated people risk their lives, and suffer what he could only imagine would be an extremely uncomfortable and painful death.

Maybe it was because deep down, he wanted to find another way around this, he didn't want any of the six to think this was expected of them. Even though he knew everyone on the ship would throw themselves in front of a bullet to save another life, he wanted to believe that Dr Scott could find another way. Or at least reassure everyone that they stood a chance at survival and a chance at finding a definite cure.

* * *

Lieutenant Foster walked in sync with the XO, as he spoke to her about the human trials.

"I can think of other things I would rather sign up for sir, but these trials may give Dr Scott a shot at finding a cure, and right now, that's what the world needs."

"It's not a military obligation, nor is it an order from the Captain." Kara stopped mid-step, turning to Mike.

"It's not, but I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't do it. People are dying, and we have a shot at saving them, Sir, this isn't about serving with the military, this is about human beings and innocent people."

"Thank you, Lieutenant,"

"Sir."

* * *

As Mike walked down the passageway, heading to find the final name on the list he saw Tom stood outside his stateroom.

"What's this? Timeout?" Mike asked as he got closer, looking at his friend then at the door.

"You could say that. Things got a little nasty. Believe me, Mike, I want to find a cure as much as everyone else, but those six names are six of our people, six of my people, I can't put them in harm's way, not without her word that we will find a cure that works." Mike nodded in agreement, Tom putting into words all he'd been thinking.

"I spoke to Russ, Foster, Miller and Andrews, they all seem willing. Apparently, to them, it's more a personal obligation than a professional one and I can see it from that point of view. We do have an opportunity to save the world, I just wish we had more of a guarantee that it's going to work." Tom gave a tight smile, nodding

"How much are you wishing you were in Miami now?" Tom asked, leaning up against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Just about as much as you wish you'd taken that desk job in D.C." Mike shot back.

"Who are the other two on the list?" Mike pulled it out of his uniform pocket and handed it over to Tom.

"They're all good people, even Tex. Don't know him yet, but he saved our skin at Gitmo, so I have to give him credit." Tom paused.

"Wilson, wasn't he out sick yesterday? Food poisoning or something?" Tom asked.

Mike shrugged taking back the piece of paper.

"I'll go and find out, and see if anyone has offered to take his place. I think maybe you should go and start round two." Mike said, a playful look on his face.

Tom only glared at him slightly.

"If they're all willing, and this is what the good doctor wants to do, I think I need to start asking about the process, what's going to happen. If this does happen, whichever six it is, they are not walking into that tent blind and I want to give them every opportunity to back out."

"I'm going to try and stay professional, but, they need to know what they're getting into."

* * *

"Doc, how's Wilson doing?" The sailor was laid, asleep on one of the bed in sickbay.

"Better. Food poisoning and dehydration, not a good combination, but he should be back to work once he sleeps it off. Bacon is checking all the food we have left, a few other sailors reported feeling unwell, right now, just looks like a bad batch of food."

"Okay, good to know. Can I talk to him?" Mike asked, taking a step closer to the bed the young man was laid on.

"Be my guest, Sir,"

After a few shakes of the shoulder, the young man was up and standing to attention, not that Mike wanted him too. He looked as though any sudden movement would make him throw up.

"Steady there, Sailor, I just cleaned my boots."

"Sorry, Sir." Mike gave a nod, crossing his arms, wanting to make this quick.

"You signed up for the trials that Dr Scott is wanting to conduct?" Mike asked.

"Not anymore, Sir. Due to being unwell I cannot take part, as far as I know, someone else is taking my place." It was understandable, with Wilson already being unwell, it would be hell on earth for him to go through it again, only a thousand times worse.

"Who?"

"Chief Engineer Andrea Garnett, Sir."

* * *

Mike walked down to the engine room, hoping to find the final name on the list, willing himself to remain professional, just like he had told the Captain.

"Garnett, a word?" Mike asked when he found her.

"Sir," She nodded, pulling off the safety glasses and passing her clipboard to her second in command to finish up what looked like maintenance checks.

"Wilson told me you're taking his place in the human trials?" Mike asked once they reached the passageway, the only place they would have a quiet conversation without walking to an upper deck.

"Yes, Sir. He was out sick and someone else needed to take his place, so I said I would. I spoke to Dr Scott this morning, she said if Wilson got cleared today then I wouldn't be needed, but I heard Doc Rios still has him in sickbay." Mike nodded, confirming what she'd heard.

"You're not doing it."

"Sir?"

"You could die in these trials, Andrea. What about Lily? What are we supposed to tell her?" Andrea gave him a look before interrupting him.

"Mike, stop. Be professional for a moment, I signed up to do this, I know what the risks are, but right now, this is the only shot Dr Scott has at finding a cure, I have to do this."

Mike sighed, running a hand over his face.

"Andrea,"

"No, this isn't twenty years ago, Mike. This is the here and now, and here and now is the world falling apart because of a virus, a virus that we have a chance at stopping. Of course, I thought of my daughter when I signed up, but at least if I die, she has a chance at living." Andrea explained herself as if Mike didn't already know. Her daughter was the first thing that went through her mind when she put her name down for the human trials.

"This isn't twenty years ago, but this is a situation where you and five other people could die. Andrea, I have asked everyone else on the list and they are up for it, and I know you are too, and all for the same reason, but I can't let you,"

Andrea shook her head.

"Mike, you don't get a choice in the matter, so, either get onboard with this or get out of the way. The rest of the world needs us, they need Dr Scott and her brain, and she thinks a human trial will help find a cure, so if that's what she says needs to happen, then it will."

Mike watched as she walked back towards her engineers.

He didn't know how to feel, other than he felt as though he had messed up again. He had no issue staying professional, just like he had no issue serving on the same ship as her, but the thought of her losing her life, the thought of him, even after twenty years, losing her, it was enough to make him throw protocols and professionalism out of the window.

* * *

"So, you spoke to the six?" Tom asked him, later that evening after Rachel had gone back to her lab.

"Andrea is taking Wilson's place," Mike told him.

Tom looked up from his desk.

"Is that an issue?" Tom asked, curious as to why Mike seemed to upset about the fact.

"I've known Andrea a long time, that's all."

"Well, we've known each other for just over ten years, Mike,"

"Twenty-five years, we met in the academy. I mean, it's not a big deal, I doubt anyone can talk her out of it, but, when you've known someone for that long,"

Tom nodded in understanding.

"So, these six?"

"Those six."

"Pray to god they make it out the other side,"

* * *

 **A/N:** Is this worth continuing? Let me know! Thank you for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here and Now.**

 **Part two.**

Reviews are loved and appreciated. Thank you for the reviews left on part one!

Enjoy part two and let me know if you still want to see more of this!

 **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

"All six know the risks, I explained it to them when they signed up. There is no need to do it again, Mike." Rachel told Mike as they walked up to the Captain's Stateroom from her lab.

"I want everyone on this ship to hear this. They serve with these six, they should be aware of what's going to happen to their fellow sailors, to their friends." Rachel shrugged and nodded.

"Fine, if you think it's necessary."

"They could die, of course, it's necessary." Mike shot back, he knew that Rachel was aware of how big a deal this was.

Despite it being her idea, it was easy to see she wanted to find another way, some other way than asking six people to sign up to their deaths, even though now she was certain they had at least a forty percent chance of survival, which was seemed better than the ninety percent death rate she kept reminding the Captain about.

"Doc Rios said he would support you and Quincy if needed, but we don't know what we'll encounter while you run these trials. Enemies don't back off just because you're trying to find a cure for this virus." Mike told her, reaching Tom's stateroom, and knocking on the door.

"Yeah, I noticed that," Rachel told him, before entering on Tom's command.

"Dr Scott, Mike, take a seat."

"Any new developments, Dr Scott?" Tom asked, picking up a file which Mike assumed was the doctor's latest lab report.

"We have been testing the cure samples on monkeys, all have responded well so far, Quincy and I are confident that we're now looking at a forty percent chance of survival," Rachel told him, a small smile on her face.

"Forty still isn't good enough. These people are about to go through hell with what you're going to put in their bodies, and should they not make it, I will be the one to tell their spouses, their mothers and fathers and their children, so Dr Scott, I need something a little better than forty percent." Tom's voice was harsh, and Mike couldn't blame him, he knew he would be the same.

"We will find a cure. If they die, which I pray to God they won't, I can use them to find out what went wrong, we can use their genetics and possibly their blood to create a cure and vaccine. I understand that you do not want to lose anyone else, Captain, but this is the only choice we have in the time frame. If I were," Tom raised a hand to stop her.

"You've made your point about the time frame," He told her, not needing to hear it again.

Everyone was now aware the world's population was dying, none of them needed a reminder of how quickly it was happening.

"I've asked for Dr Scott to go through the process again, this time to everyone onboard. I think their fellow sailors and friends have a right to know what's going to happen to them, in case the worst should happen, I want the crew to know why they did it and what happened, and maybe, Dr Scott you can emphasise on how important this is?" Mike asked, his tone taking a harsh turn towards the end.

"I agree with the XO. When you tell the crew, I want you to explain how important this is, and what's going to happen to the six who go into that tent. I refuse to let you, or Quincy treat them as test subjects or guinea pigs. All six of them, including Tex, have shown willing and courage and loyalty to me and this ship and you will treat them with respect." Rachel nodded.

"Of course, Captain. I wouldn't treat them with any less respect than they deserve. I have told you time and time again if there was a way around this I would do it. I don't want to put them at risk any more than you."

"Fine. Thank you, Dr Scott, I'll let you get back to your lab." Tom gave her a tight smile as she got up to leave.

"Thank you, Captain. XO."

Silence settled between the two commanding officers when Rachel left the stateroom.

"No matter what happens, on this ship, or on the homeland, all five of those sailors and Tex, will receive the Medal of Honour. No matter the outcomes, they will receive the highest military award we can give them for what they are about to do."

Mike nodded in agreement, before speaking, "Let's just hope they all live to receive it."

* * *

The loading bay was full of sailors, all stood to attention as Tom walked in. He was hoping he wouldn't have to do this, and by some miracle, it would all be okay, but he knew that now, this was going ahead, and six lives would be put at risk, with the hope and determination to save millions of people across the globe.

"As I am sure you are all aware by now," Tom paused. "Six members of this crew have put their names down to take part in a human trial that will enable Dr Scott to find a cure to the virus that is currently wiping out the world's population."

Tom turned to Dr Scott, who was in her make-shift lab in the loading bay, giving her a cue for her to explain to each of them what was going to happen over the next twenty-four hours.

"I will try and make this quick,"

"They have time for you to explain," Mike put in, interrupting her. When he did, he caught a glimpse of Andrea glaring at him from where she was stood with the rest of the engineering department.

Rachel nodded. "Six members of this crew have volunteered to put their lives on the line for me and Dr Tophet to find a cure for the now named Red Flu."

"During these trials, these six volunteers will be injected with a strain of the Red Flu, before being injected with multiple variations of a cure we think, we hope, will work. In the next twenty-four hours those six people will be medically tested again before they will be made comfortable in sickbay and then this evening, they will be injected with the virus." Rachel explained, but the faces in front of her told her she needed to say more.

"It will be hard, their bodies will be taken over by a virus that is, as Captain Chandler said, killing most of the population. It's not an easy task, but I am hopeful that each of the six will survive, and should they not, as awful as it is to think about, they will still be a great help to Dr Tophet and myself in finding a cure that can be distributed," Again she paused, thinking of what the XO had asked of her.

Rachel took a moment, before removing her protective equipment and leaving the confines of the lab. Coming to stand next to Tom in front of most of the crew of the Nathan James.

"The six of you that have volunteered are six of the bravest people I know, and I understand you would do anything for your country, and your determination is inspiring, but you and your fellow crew need to know what's going to happen once the Red Flu enters your system." Rachel began, looking in the crowd for the six people she knew she would be injecting.

"The Red Flu, will first present itself as the flu, you will experience a headache, fever and exhaustion. After that, you will more than likely find lesions on your skin, some may deteriorate faster than other, but once you find the lesions on your skin, we have cause to believe you will begin to hallucinate and after that, patients got through major organ failure, and often die from failure of the vital organs." Her voice went quiet as she ended her explanation.

"How long?" Mike asked, from the side of the bay.

"Those infected can die within a day, or in some cases a week, but no one has survived longer than five days after being infected. The virus is airborne and extremely contagious, so while you will be able to enter sickbay to see your fellow crew, to see your friends, you will not be able to enter the tent unless in protective equipment."

"Any questions for Dr Scott, before we go ahead with these trials," Tom asked.

No one spoke, but Tom didn't know it if was out of fear of the human trials, or fear of speaking out of turn.

"You're all dismissed. Those six who have volunteered, please report to sickbay at thirteen hundred hours for your medical examinations. In the meantime, you have the choice to return to your workstations or spend time either alone or with fellow crew." Tom watched as they all left.

"Thank you, Captain."

"Prove to me that I was right to let you do this, Rachel." Was all Tom said in response to her thanks.

* * *

"XO," Mike stopped in the passageway, turning to see the Chief Engineer catching up with him.

"Hey, look, sorry for speaking out of turn, but I wanted to apologise, for how I acted the other day. I know you were worried about me, about all of us going into that tent, and I, I should have been more aware of that," Andrea said, but Mike gave her a look, before shaking his head.

"No, I shouldn't have questioned you like I did. I was worried. I'm still worried." Andrea nodded.

"I have to do this. I know the risks, but Lily is at home, and I can only hope Bill took her somewhere safe and they're both surviving, and with that in mind, I want to try and find a cure, so that maybe it can get to them wherever they are." Andrea explained herself, but Mike already knew the reasons.

"Nothing I say is going to change your mind." Mike pointed out, a statement rather than a question.

"Would you have asked the other five that same question?" Andrea asked, almost too quietly for Mike to hear.

"Would it be a comfort to you if I said yes?" Mike asked, before adding. "I lost you once, I don't want to lose you again. Not like this,"

"This is the only way we can save the rest of the world. You lost me once, but this time, at least you'll lose me to a worthy cause." Her voice was laced with bitterness, but Mike knew he deserved that.

"The Navy has always been a worthy cause," Mike said, against his better judgement.

"So, what was I?" Andrea asked, giving him a moment before walking away.

It wasn't how Mike wanted their last conversation to go, but he knew he'd walked right into that one. So, instead of going after her and apologising, he got on with his duties, hoping that god would spare all six of them. Hoping that Dr Scott could deliver on her promise of finding a cure without loss of life onboard the ship, and hopefully go on to save millions of lives.

Lives of the crew and their loved ones fighting this hell on the mainland.

* * *

"Everything alright?" Tom asked, looking over at Mike. They'd been sat in Tom's stateroom for over an hour, gaining new intel from the mainland, and what was left of the government.

"Sure." Mike shrugged.

"You don't sound too convinced. I've known you a long time, Mike," Tom pushed his friend.

"It's personal,"

Tom chuckled lightly.

"I think this crew is a little past professional since six of them are about to be injected with hell of earth. So, what's going on? I know you don't agree with the trial, but it's the only option right now." Mike nodded.

"I, it was a long time ago, but Andrea and I met in the academy, and well she was always as tough as nails and I guess I liked that about her," Mike paused. "There was something between us,"

"Is their still something between you both now?" Tom asked.

Mike shrugged again.

"I doubt it. You know, I loved Christine, but even before the divorce, I guess she was still there in the back of my mind. Andrea and Bill are separated, but she's got more morals that I do, so, you don't have anything to worry about,"

"So?" Tom pushed his friend.

"Back then, I did some things and it didn't end well between us. I left," Mike paused again, sighing, not sure if he wanted to share the story.

"I left in the middle of the night for military deployment, and I was gone for ten months, after that, I was transferred, the next time I saw her it had been nearly two years and she wanted nothing to do with me." Tom leant forward in his chair, leaning on his desk.

"This is the first time you've served together, since then?"

"Yeah, I mean we've seen each other around, but, Tom I walked out, and I lost her, and now I could lose her again, I don't know I can deal with that," Mike stopped struggling to find the words to speak.

"She was the first, she'll always be important to you."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience." Tom didn't reply, but Mike knew he was right.

"I tried to talk her out of it, and today after the briefing she came to find me, and I told her I didn't want to lose her, and her response was I would lose her to a worthy cause, unlike before, and going against my better judgement I told her that the Navy was a worthy cause, and if she dies, that will be the last conversation I ever have with her."

Tom took a breath, lost for words himself, not knowing what to tell his friend, or even if he could make a joke or say something that could help him out.

"You were called,"

"No, I put my name down, I said I wanted to deploy. We were practically living together and in the middle of the night I left, she was briefed the next morning, but still, I should have told her. Now, she may die and this time I'll lose her for real, and theirs no chance of twenty years down the line me bumping into her in whole foods, or at the Memorial Day parade," Mike stopped himself, shaking his head.

"But, we all know no one can talk her out of it, so, it is what it is."

"I have faith in Dr Scott, Mike. I must believe they will all make it through. As you said, Andrea's as tough as nails,"

"They all are," Mike said.

* * *

At thirteen hundred, just like instructed the six volunteers were undergoing medical testing. Tom and Mike were there watching as each of the six had various things done to them, while Dr Scott and Dr Tophet wrote down notes and moved samples from one place to the other.

Mike couldn't help but look at Andrea, and a few times she caught his eye, giving him a small smile, which Mike found oddly comforting, despite it being her who would need the comfort once she was put into the tent with the others.

"I want all of you to know," Tom began, motioning for Rachel and Quincy to continue their work while he spoke.

"All of you will receive Medals of Honour, for the courage and commitment shown here today. You are putting your life on the line in a hope to save millions, and no matter the outcome of these trials, the six of you will be remembered, along with Dr Scott and Dr Tophet, for saving humanity."

"Myself and the XO have spoken a lot in the last twenty-four hours, discussing how we move forward from here, and while we hoped not to put you through this, we are confident when Dr Scott says that this is the only hope we have, but more confident in her ability to get you all through this. Should you not, when we return home, with a cure, we will find your families, and they will receive all benefits and support and whatever else they need from the U.S Navy. They will also be made aware, as will the rest of the world, that you six put all other lives before your own, disregarding your own health and your own personal beliefs to help find a cure for the Red Flu." Tom turned to Mike to see if there was anything the second in command wanted to add.

"You are the six bravest and selfless people I have ever met, and like the Captain said, no matter what, you will all be honoured for what you're about to do. Know that myself and the Captain, along with the rest of the crew are thinking of you, are praying for you, and will be here for you throughout these trials."

Tom walked back over to where Mike was standing, watching as Rachel explained something else to them all before Quincy began to open the isolation tent to prepare for them all going in.

"You'll get her back,"

"I hope we get them all back."

* * *

Thank you for reading, let me know your thoughts!


	3. Chapter 3

**Here and Now.**

 **Part Three.**

Reviews are loved and appreciated. Your feedback on chapter two was lovely!

Enjoy! **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

Mike Slattery watched on as the six crew members tried to sleep. Tom had left to take watch on the bridge, and Mike had come, both agreeing they would take it in turns to be with the six in the tent. So far, he had heard the Master Chief talk to Rachel about his faith and strong beliefs in God. He had laughed when Maya and Miller had joked about random things, telling each other bad jokes and laughing like it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard.

Kara and Andrea had put up with Tex talking about his time at Gitmo, always cracking some joke to lighten the mood. Each of the six seemingly unfazed by what was happening to them. Kara was the first to show symptoms, just a headache, but as the hours passed she began to feel tired and run down. Andrea held her hand through it all, while Dr Scott administered what Mike hoped would be the cure that would work.

Just as Mike turned to get on with some paperwork he heard one of them begin to move. At first, he just assumed one of them was trying to get comfortable, or as comfortable as one could be on the Navy equivalent to a camp bed, but then he heard Dr Scott asking questions and his curiosity and worry got the better of him.

With it being dark in sickbay he struggled to see much, but he knew who occupied each of the beds, and he could hear the conversation Dr Scott was having.

"I can ask for someone to get you some reports to read, to pass the time?" He heard Rachel say, and knew instantly she was speaking to Andrea. Who, despite having a deadly toxin in her body was prepared to keep on working.

Mike took a step forward towards the tent, waiting for Rachel to notice him.

When she did, she gave him a small smile, before pointing down at Andrea.

"Is there any way we can get the Chief Engineer the latest engine status report?"

"Sure, I'll have it sent up," Mike said, waiting a moment before leaving the room, making the request with a nearby group of sailors. He should have gotten it himself, but he didn't want to be too far away in case anything happened, like his agreement with Tom, both, or at least one of them needed to be in the bay at all times.

"How's it going?" He hadn't heard Tom approach, but he wasn't too surprised to see him.

When Mike didn't answer, Tom gave an explanation for him being there.

"Granderson has watch, I trust her. I wanted to be down here, make sure everyone's okay."

Mike leant back against the wall crossing his arms over his chest.

"Everyone but Andrea is asleep. I've sent for the engine status report, at her request. The woman could die and she's still looking over reports, but the Master Chief has done a lot of praying, and Maya and Eric seem to be getting on well. Tex is keeping everyone entertained, but it's Kara that's shown early symptoms."

Tom sucked in a breath. Kara was far too young to have her life end now, she was a good sailor, a good kid, she had proved herself on this mission. Tom knew he couldn't choose one over the other, but it was scarier to see Kara, Maya, and Eric's names on that list, knowing how young they were, knowing how little of life they had actually experienced.

"Engine report, sir." A sailor interrupted their conversation.

"Thank you," Mike said, before heading back into sickbay, knowing Tom would be close behind.

"Dr Scott, that engine report for the Lieutenant Commander," Mike said, holding it the report, looking past both doctors, to see how they were all doing.

"Thank you. Welcome, Captain. Has the XO given you an update?" Tom smiled.

"As best he could." Rachel moved out of the tent, ensuring the isolation unit was secure before moving out of the second tent and into the sick bay to take the report off Mike and update Tom.

Both men and Rachel moved to the side, but it was clear to see things were not going as well as hoped. Tom didn't want to ask, instead, he just wanted to wake up, relive the past two days, say no. Seeing all six of them in a tent knowing what was happening to their bodies, it was hard, and it made him realise he should have said no, he should have stood his ground, told Rachel to find another way, but he didn't.

Now he had to live with what was happening and hope for the best along with the rest of the crew.

"Kara is showing early signs of the virus, but I believe they all are. Some have higher pain levels than others, so despite having a headache, their bodies may be accustomed to them just pushing through it. I expect by morning most will be showing signs of the virus, headaches, fever, possible vomiting."

"Can I have a word, in private, Dr Scott? Mike, why don't you go make conversation with Garnett, see how she's really doing."

Mike didn't know if he should hate Tom in the moment or be grateful, but despite his feelings, he moved around the tent. Feeling strange at the thought of speaking to any of them through plastic sheets.

"So, will the engines survive while you're in isolation, or should we all say a prayer?" Mike asked, leaning against the wall, just behind the bed Andrea was sat on.

She turned to face him, giving him a smile, before nodding.

"I think they'll cope. I've been lucky, so far, this is one of the best engineering teams I've worked with. Always asking questions, always going the extra mile, they're dedicated lads, good, professional."

"Always asking questions?"

Andrea shrugged. "What can I say? It's nice to share your own learning."

"There was me thinking I had a big ego." Andrea laughed at Mike's statement, but ended up in a coughing fit, one Dr Tophet had to help with.

"Sorry," Mike apologised looking between Andrea and Quincy, taking a step forward, crossing his arms over her chest, hoping to push down the feelings of only wanting to hold her.

"It's okay, XO," Quincy told him, waiting for Andrea to give him a nod before he left the two to talk again.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking. How are you feeling?" Mike asked, expecting Andrea to tell him how she was fine or coping.

"Honestly, I don't know. A part of me, physically feels terrible, and mentally, it feels like the beginning of the end, and, I don't know." Mike took a few steps forward, and Andrea moved to sit closer to the plastic sheeting, closer to Mike.

"You're going to get through this, all six of you are, in a couple of years' time when all of this is over, we'll all have one of those big reunions women are so insistent on having and we'll laugh about how serious this was and how you all thought you wouldn't make it out," Mike's voice was uncharacteristically quiet, but he didn't seem to mind.

This didn't seem like the time of his to be his usual self.

"It's sweet that you care so much," Andrea told him, tears building in the corners of her eyes, threatening to fall.

"Well, after everything we went through," Mike began, but Andrea stopped him.

"It's gone, Mike. Everything we had is gone, you made that choice. It's sweet that you care so much, but we both know you care about all six of us, so, let's just stick with that." Mike wanted so badly to move in and hold her, tell her how she was so wrong.

Yes, he cared about all six of them, but deep down, it was only her that he was so terrified of losing.

"I'm sorry," Mike told her.

Andrea gave a weak smile before turning back around, picking up the engine status report she'd been reading earlier.

Mike took a few steps back. Andrea had a point, but when did she not? Mike could tell she was struggling, they all were. Kara was showing symptoms faster than anyone else. The Master Chief had taken a sudden turn and looked both mentally and physically drained, Andrea was suffering both physically and mentally, but Mike assumed it would be the mental thoughts of death that got to her. Maya and Eric were both shaking with hot and cold sweats, clearly, they had reached the fever stage of the early symptoms and Tex couldn't stop coughing.

"XO," Tom said, walking back towards Mike.

"Dr Scott better be right about this, because they're all deteriorating, and fast." Mike shook his head.

"We should have never let this happen, Tom. We should have said no,"

Tom nodded in agreement, but they couldn't go back now.

"I spoke to Rachel, she's confident, but she's gone back to her lab to continue testing, we just have to hope and pray these six make it through the night, so tomorrow morning Rachel can inject them with something I hope will make all of this go away," Tom spoke, but Mike could tell it was personal, he wasn't the Captain in the moment, just a man worried about six people he cared about.

* * *

It had been a few hours since Mike had spoken to Andrea, and the sun was just about peaking over the horizon, not that anyone in sickbay could see it.

The Captain and XO decided to stay with the six, doing their paperwork, speaking to both Dr Scott and Dr Tophet, and then whichever of the six woke up during the night.

"Captain," Dr Scott said, making both men look up.

"I didn't know if you wanted to invite member of the crew in, before we inject anything else into them, this could potentially be the last time they are fully coherent," Tom nodded in almost sad understanding, about to give orders to Mike to inform members of the crew, but before he could speak, Dr Tophet called for Rachel.

"Rachel, she's having a seizure!" Rachel moved without looking at who Quincy was talking about.

"Kara," Tom said, too quietly, too painfully.

"Get Lt. Green, now," Tom said to Mike.

Mike took a moment, looking at Kara, looking as Dr Scott and Quincy tried to figure out what was happening, watching as the other five looked over at her in a panic.

"Mike,"

"Green, yeah, I got it," Mike said, moving quickly out to the room, hoping to find Green before anything happened to Kara, or more specifically anything worse happened to Kara.

* * *

"If you come with bad news, I do not want to hear it," Tom said later when Mike entered his stateroom.

Mike raised his hands in mock surrender, before shaking his head.

"If anything, it's good news. Dr Scott said Kara is doing a lot better and she's running tests to find out what caused the seizure and Green is with her, as much as it's against protocol, I doubt you'd be able to pull him out of their now, and they've all been injected with, well, whatever Dr Scott injected them with."

Tom smiled.

"Well, it's been easy to see how close they are," Tom began referring to Kara and Danny.

"If it wasn't for the state of the world and what Kara's going through right now I would have said something, but going against my better judgement, I'm going to let it play out, and when they all pull through, give Green a fair warning,"

"I agree, but you're right. I don't think giving him the conflict of interest speech is going to work right now."

"I'll let you get back to work, Captain," Mike said, he had only come to give Tom the good news about Kara.

He knew Dr Scott would find them both later when she was certain what caused the fit, and hopefully with some more good news about the rest of the crew.

Mike had been stood in sickbay and was watching as the virus took over their bodies, despite it being Kara who'd been worse, Mike had to admit, Miller was struggling, the lesions seemed to be spreading faster than the other, and Maya would drift in and out of consciousness causing Quincy to set up a mask shift desk area at the end of her bed to ensure she kept coming around, but he knew Tom would have been updated.

It was one of the things Tom had insisted on, hourly updates and immediate updates if anything else happened.

"How are you holding up?" Tom asked before Mike couldn't leave the room.

"As well as everyone else, why? You worried about me?" Mike asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Tom shrugged.

"I didn't want to keep bringing it up, but what you told me about Andrea, I didn't know if I should be worried," Mike sighed.

"I'm worried, but I'm worried about all of them. I'm not a risk, I just want them to all make it out the other side," Tom took the answer but wasn't fully convinced.

"I wouldn't think you were a risk, I was asking more as a friend."

Mike moved towards the door, pulling it open slightly.

"Then, friend to friend, I lost her once, I don't want to lose her again, even if she does hate me."

* * *

"I see Green left," Tom stated the obvious to Rachel.

"Yes, I convinced him to go get some fresh air, maybe spend some time sleeping or in the gym. He can't do much here, I am still running her blood samples, but right now, they're all stable."

"When will you know about Kara?" Tom asked.

"In a few hours, but I am pretty certain that her seizure wasn't part of the virus. I mean, it was caused by it, but I don't believe it's a symptom associated with the Red Flu, but I will let you know when I get the tests back."

"I appreciate it."

Silence settled between them. Rachel turned to Tom slightly, looking away from her patients for just a moment, knowing that Quincy was with them, and for the moment, they all seemed to be sleeping peacefully, or as peacefully as one could when having their body fight a losing battle with a virus.

"It may be premature, but I am concerned about Eric Miller and Maya Andrews, more so than I am about the rest of them,"

Tom frowned slightly, waiting for her to explain why knowing that he couldn't just walk away with her concerns and not having any information as to why or what she was going to do to fix it.

"Kara is stable, and I have a few ideas of what caused the seizure, but I have a feeling she will pull through, looking at her chart, she is doing well, all things considered. Tex is sleeping a lot, but he has been coherent, Andrea is experiencing a lot of loss of feeling in her hands and arms, but so far, the lesions on her body are minimal, and the Master Chief's stats haven't changed in twelve hours," Rachel paused.

"What I am saying is, Eric and Maya are deteriorating faster than the others. I am beginning to see symptoms in all of them that could be the beginning of the hallucination period, and after that, as you know, it does go downhill,"

Tom interrupted her.

"It's been two days since you injected them with the virus and only a few hour since you injected them with what we all hope is a cure, you said no one has survived longer than five and normally people die within the first twenty-four hours, so clearly something is working, so I need you to figure out what, in the formula, or in the test tube, or in your lab is working and give them more of it, so the next time I walk into this room, they are all back to their normal selves," Tom's voice was low and harsh.

Rachel didn't try to argue with him, she understood how guilty he must have felt. About as guilty as she did for putting these people through this.

"I will try, Captain,"

* * *

Reviews are very much appreciated. I hope you enjoyed part three. Bethany.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here and Now.**

 **Part four.**

Thank you for all the lovely reviews. As always, reviews are loved and appreciated.

Enjoy! **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

Mike sat in his cabin, glancing between his stack of paperwork and the clock on the wall. Only four more hours until his watch. Only four more hours of torturing himself and making trips back and forth to the tent that held six people currently experiencing hell on earth.

It had been three days since those six people had been injected with the virus and just over twenty-four hours since Rachel had put the first prototype of the cure into their bodies, all anyone could do at this point was wait.

He had never been a fan of paperwork, but right now, he couldn't think of anything else to take his mind off things, so he pulled the files over and began to work through them, hoping that four hours would come and go so he could move onto the bridge, and hopefully feel a little more useful than he did right now.

Then again, it didn't matter where he was, he felt useless no matter what. Dr Scott and Dr Tophet where the only ones who could hopefully control what was going on in the isolation tent, and all he and Tom could do was hope for the best, but right now, their hopes and prayers didn't seem to be getting answered.

He scanned over another document, putting his signature at the bottom, moving it across his desk, making a pile of papers that Tom needed to look over when he had the time if he ever had the time.

Since the trials started, much like himself, Tom was either in sickbay, on the bridge or with Dr Scott, occasionally Mike would find him in his stateroom, but that was normally in between visits to one place or another onboard the Nathan James.

Mike was trying hard not to think about Andrea, instead, trying to stay positive about his kids. Hoping his ex-wife had gotten them to safety before the virus fully took hold, but as they gained more intelligence, the more they knew, the more they didn't know, it looked as though no one was safe. Mike hoped that they found safety, and, as awful as it was, he hoped that had they succumbed to the Red Flu that Christine was with the kids and that they all went quickly, and with as little pain as possible. His brain went as far as to hope the kids went first as sick as it made him feel. Hoping his kids died first so they wouldn't have to be without their mother.

* * *

"Never thought I would live to see the day I wouldn't have to ask you for paperwork," Tom said sarcastically.

Mike shrugged it off. "Needed something to do,"

"Don't we all. I haven't heard from Rachel in a few hours, at this point I am hoping no news is good news." Tom said.

"I hate to say it but all we can do is wait. I just hate the not knowing, I know this job is all about being prepared no matter what, and we lose people, but, this feels different."

"On a Navy ship we have weapons, we have ways of escaping, we have help, or at least we did. This, the virus, we have a British Doctor, who for the first few weeks onboard managed to get us in a firefight with the Russians." Mike couldn't help but laugh.

"First time in a long time I've had to put faith in someone I don't know," Mike admitted, moving further into Tom's stateroom to sit on the couch.

"I know the feeling. Have you spoken to Andrea?" Tom asked, mainly out of curiosity.

"I'm not really someone she wants to talk to right now, and besides, I'm not sure they're all fully with it. Besides, pretty hard to have a conversation when you have seven other people listening in."

"Fair point, but, you know, she'll come around."

Mike gave a sort laugh, although it sounded bitter and harsh.

"Sure, because she has every reason to forgive me. All I want is for them to make it through. Is this slightly personal between me and Andrea? Yes, but I also know she has a kid at home, I know Kara's mum is waiting for her, the Master Chief leads a church group, Maya has three sisters and Miller's father was in the Navy. Not too sure about Tex, but if the way he holds that locket has anything to do with it, I'm willing to say he has someone waiting for him too," Mike paused.

"It's personal for everyone, Tom." The captain nodded, it was too personal for his liking. Not that he didn't care for his crew, and not that he didn't want to know them, but he wanted to know them under different circumstances, he didn't want to find out who they had waiting at home while they were on their deathbeds.

"What happened? Between you and Andrea?" Mike frowned.

"I told you, I left,"

"No, I meant before. You met at the academy, I know how strict it was back then," Mike raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you teach at the academy?"

"Yeah, but it was a long time ago and only to get to get extra brownie points with the higher-ups." Tom shrugged it off, it was the truth, in the beginning anyway.

"Andrea and I met on her first week, I was nineteen, she'd just turned seventeen. Basic training, first time I ever saw someone look so innocent but be a force to be reckoned with when given a gun."

"Woman do that to you. All innocent one minute, but they can hold their own."

Mike leant back on the couch, waiting a moment before speaking.

"Why does it feel like we had the same experience?" Tom gave him a knowing look, one that said back off, but Mike wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to learn a little more about his CO's personal life.

"There was a girl, it happened, it shouldn't have, we both moved on and that's that."

"It shouldn't have,"

"She may or may not have been a student of mine, but like I said, we moved on, I'm happily married,"

Mike interrupted, "Wasn't it you who said the first was always important?"

"Yeah, and I stand by that, but we're not here to talk about me, we're here to talk about you, so let's get back on track and discuss your feelings." Mike wanted to make a sarcastic remake, but he had known Tom long enough to know when to leave him alone and when to push him, and this was certainly a topic he needed to leave alone.

"They tell you not to get involved, but I was nineteen, cocky as hell. I signed up at seventeen and felt invincible, two years in and I'm helping new recruits and like I said, she could hold her own, tough as nails." Mike smiled at the memory.

"It took a few months, but finally got to know her, and that was it, I was completely taken. Didn't think I could fall so fast, but I did. Andrea was, everything back then, tough, kind, took no BS from anyone, she spoke her mind, and, she was beautiful, even in the combat gear," Mike paused for a moment.

"A year after meeting her we're practically living at each other's places, I met her dad, he hated me. I took her to meet my folks and they thought she was great, it was like that for nearly three years. We'd even spoke about marriage and kids, it was just natural, all that pillow talk."

"I didn't realise you took it that far," Tom said.

"I loved her, still love her, I don't know if I actually stopped or if I just pushed the feelings down. After three years, I left and told myself that she would have moved on, that she would find someone else, and she did, but…"

"But?" Tom pushed his friend again.

"It's selfish, I was on my first mission, and I honestly thought she would wait for me. I thought I would have her to come home to, but she wasn't, and still isn't cut out to be a military wife, she belongs here, and on the front line, that much was obvious from basic training." Mike said, and Tom smiled.

Everything Mike said Tom could imagine. When he first met Andrea, she was just an engineer, but Tom knew she'd reach the top eventually, she was dedicated, and good at her job, she worked hard, trained hard, and seemed to take things in quickly. A part of him was glad that time had moved on, moved on from the 'men only' side of the Navy because he knew onboard the Nathan James he had a lot of good women serving, a lot of them who were just as tough, and some even tougher than the men onboard.

"Yeah, it's selfish, but I get it. You loved her." Mike nodded, that much was true.

"You think it makes me a bad husband? I mean, me and Christine, it wasn't going to work out in the long run, but when we were married, I was faithful," Mike asked, knowing Tom would be honest.

"You were a good husband and a good dad, and you're still a good dad, the kids love you. I mean, Lucas thinks you're a superhero. You said it yourself Mike, it wasn't going to work out, but it wasn't a nasty divorce, and I think if anything happened to Christine you'd be broken," Tom stopped, not sure where he was going with the short speech.

"If you're asking me if it was wrong of you to think of Andrea during your marriage then, personally, the answer is no. I mean, morally, it's not the best, but you were faithful, and she was the first. I've served with Andrea, and even without the romantic connection, she's pretty hard to forget." Tom told him, hoping it would make him feel better about the whole situation.

"Thanks. I know, it not the best time to be talking about this."

"Well, I need a break from the paperwork, and the Russians, and well, she's fighting for her life. As a friend, Mike, I would be worried if you were fine, she means a lot to you," Tom's sentence was interrupted by a banging on the door.

Not simply knocking but a pounding as if to knock it down.

It was Mike who moved to open it, a worried look on his face as he pulled the door open, looking at a sailor who was slightly out of breath and a little red-faced.

"Sorry, Sir, but you need to come quick. It's Maya Andrews, Sir." Mike and Tom looked at each other for a moment, but just a moment, before they both moved.

Both running, following the sailor down the passageway, shouting at people to move as they tried to get to sickbay as quickly as they could.

When they reached sickbay, everything seemed to slow down, everything seemed to get heavier, and everyone was silent.

"Rachel," Tom's voice was quiet, but the doctor still heard him. She turned slightly, still in the isolation tent, giving him a small shake of the head.

Both Tom and Mike took a few steps forward, neither of them wanting to see what they knew had happened, neither of them wanting to confirm their worst fear.

"The virus…" Tom held his hand up to Rachel as she tried to explain what had happened.

It was clear though. To everyone in the room.

Maya Andrews was dead.

"Mike, inform the crew. Dr Scott, a word. Now." Tom said, his voice harsh, his eyes not leaving the body of the young sailor in the tent.

"I need to remove her body," Rachel said, a clear sadness in her voice.

"After you've done that," Was all Tom said after that.

Again, he was plagued with guilt. He should have said no. He should have told her no. He should have told Rachel to find another way.

* * *

Tom waited outside for Rachel to move Maya's body. A part of the Captain was thankful that the other five were too out of it to really understand what was going on, each of them at different stages, but each of them very clearly getting worse.

"Crew's been informed. Some of them want to see her," Mike began, taking a deep breath to keep his emotions at bay. "I told them it wasn't possible, but we'll be holding a funeral where they can all pay their respects."

Tom nodded, he knew he couldn't let the crew see Maya in the state she was in. He didn't want anyone to remember her as the one who was first, he wanted them to remember her as the dedicated sailor she was. It hurt Tom to know he couldn't say much else. Maya, along with many other young sailors were sailors he hadn't spent much time getting to know.

Something he regretted now.

"I'm going to speak to Rachel, see what the hell is going on, and then if I have to, beg her to find a cure for this before we lose any more."

Mike's only thought in the moment was Andrea, and how close he was to losing her. How she could be next. All he wanted was for her to make it through, he didn't care if they had anything, or if she hated him, but at least if she was alive he would have the chance to say sorry for implying she wasn't worthy, he would have the chance of running into her twenty years from now.

Then, of course, Lily would get her mother back. Mike hadn't met Lily properly, only seeing her a few times in passing while preparing for this mission, but she was the blonde, younger version of her mother, and Mike was willing to bet she had the same fight in her.

"Mike?" Tom pulled him out of his thoughts, and by the sound of his voice, the CO had said his name more than once.

"Sorry," Mike apologised.

"I'm going to speak to Rachel in my stateroom, could you stay with them?" Mike nodded, he knew it wasn't a question, but even if Tom didn't ask, he wasn't going to leave them, coherent or not, a part of them must have been aware of what happened, and when Mike put himself in their shoes, he knew he wouldn't want to be alone.

* * *

"We knew this could happen," Rachel's voice was quiet, uncharacteristically so.

"What is it going to take? What am I going to have to get you so that you can save those other five lives?" Tom asked his voice calm despite the angry and hurt he was feeling.

"I have everything, I just need to run some more tests," Tom nodded.

"Well then, I'll leave you to it, Dr Scott."

Rachel nodded, turning back towards the door of the Captain's stateroom, stopping before she could open it.

"I am so sorry, Captain. I, I honestly didn't want to lose anyone." She hadn't turned to look at Tom, an argument right now wouldn't be productive, or potentially help with the emotions they were feeling.

"You have five more lives you need to save, Rachel. So, I suggest you find a way to ensure that we don't have this conversation again."

Tom watched her as she left the room. A part of him regretting his choice of words, but when it came to the bottom line, she, Rachel Scott, was the only person who knew how to save those lives, she was the one who fought the CDC to be here, and in Tom Chandler's mind, that made her brave, but it also made her responsible.

At the end of it all, he should have said no, but he didn't, now he didn't want to have to say yes. He didn't want to travel home and have to say yes.

'Is she gone?' 'Did he die?'

He would have to say yes to one family, and it was now up to Dr Scott to ensure it was only one family.

* * *

Thank you for reading, let me know what you thought! Bethany.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here and Now.**

 **Part Five.**

Thank you for the lovely reviews! They are very much loved and appreciated!

 **Disclaimer – I own nothing!**

Enjoy!

* * *

The sound of coughing, wheezing and groans of pain filled the sickbay. After Maya's death, everyone seemed to sense what was coming. Mike had been stood for hours watching them all, thinking about how they all looked so weak, how it was all so different from days ago when they walked into the tent, laughing, joking, as if nothing serious was going to happen, as if there was going to be this major anti-climax, but now they all seemed to give up. The fight in them that had been seen in the days earlier was gone.

Sailors had been in and out for most of the day, talking to there friends, trying to make jokes, begging them to stick around, telling them how they were too young to die, how they were needed.

"XO?" Danny Green appeared beside him.

"Green, how are you holding up?" Mike knew it was a stupid question.

What happened to Kara scared them all, but if Mike had to say what was the light in this situation it would be Kara and Danny. Only hours after Kara's seizure Rachel had figured it all out.

A baby.

Kara was pregnant, and despite both Tom and Mike being shocked, it made sense, and it wasn't all that big of a surprise, giving how they were around each other, how they looked at each other. The baby would be born immune. Mike didn't want to point out how the baby only survives if Kara does, but a part of him knew everyone was aware, including both Kara and Danny.

"Pictured it a little differently, if I'm being honest, sir." Mike gave him a look, one of slight confusion, but also one that said he was willing to listen.

Mike may not have been a father figure, but he was a father, and as Tom had told him, this crew, in the middle of a pandemic, was a little past professionalism. Especially when you put six of your own in harm's way.

"You know, being a dad, or at least finding out. Thought I'd be married with a house and a dog, not with her fighting for her life. I guess we've all got to try and stay positive, right?"

"I think everyone has these idea's of how it should have happened, or how you want it to happen, but at the end of the day, when you have the kid and you're up every three hours, you realise it never mattered, how it happened, how you wanted it to happen, how you wanted to find out, or when, all that matters is you have a child," Mike explained, trying to use his own experience, trying to give him some useful advice, or just some hope to hold onto.

"I just hope she makes it out the other side. You know, so in fifteen years we have a story to tell the kid. How its mama helped save the world."

"Its dad didn't do too badly in that effort either," Mike shot back with a small smile.

"Thank you, Sir,"

* * *

Tom walked down the passageway, heading towards the loading bay, wanting to see Dr Scott before going to sickbay.

"How is it going?" Tom asked Rachel, skipping the small talk.

"I'm working as fast as I can, Captain," Rachel didn't look up from the machine she was using.

Maybe if it wasn't feeling like the end of the world Tom would have gotten to know what all of it was, or maybe what she did a little better, but he didn't feel like he had time to take a guided tour. She had to focus on finding a cure, or just a faster way to get the monkeys off his ship.

"I don't doubt that, Rachel." Tom wasn't sure why he said it, or how she was going to take it. He admitted his tone was slightly more sarcastic than the pressed down anger he was going for.

"Maya's death is heart-breaking, but I have faith that the others will live through this and have a good story to tell," Rachel began, but Tom cut her off.

"This isn't about having a 'good story' to tell, this is about saving humanity, it's about saving the world, I didn't agree to this trial, the trial that killed a member of my crew, that killed a young woman, so you could get your fifteen minutes of fame, this isn't about having a good story to tell at the end of it, this isn't about awards, it's about saving lives."

Dr Scott stopped what she was going, turning to look at the Captain through the plastic sheeting that served as the walls to her lab.

"You think I don't know that?" She asked, her voice raising.

"You think this is about fame? Tom half the worlds population is dead, hell, more than half! I am doing all I can to save the world, this isn't about fame. I didn't endanger the lives of six innocent people for a god damn award!" Tom took a step back, a part of him shocked at the use of his name, but the other half expecting it.

Rachel Scott was a force to be reckoned with, he could see that, and he was sure the crew could too, but it had been a long few days, not that he would admit that, to anyone.

"I can't watch any more of my crew die, Rachel. Chances are I have already lost my family, I can't lose these people too." Tom's voice was uncharacteristically quiet as he basically admitted his fears to a woman he barely knew.

"I am doing all I can, Captain," Her words ended that conversation.

Tom waited a few more moments, watching her as she got back to work, wondering if he really did the right thing by going to her, by admitting to her that he did believe his family were dead.

As he walked through the passageways to get to sickbay his thoughts spiralled, first to his family, who, he may have already lost, in a world fighting the Red Flu his wife and kids weren't special, the Red Flu wouldn't avoid them, just like it wouldn't avoid Mike's family, Andrea's daughter, Kara's mother, Alisha's girlfriend, it wouldn't spare any of them.

All they had, at this point in time, was each other, and even that was hard to admit. A crew should be able to rely on each other, a crew should be willing to take a bullet for their fellow sailors, and Tom would be the first to admit that on a Naval Ship is where you could make lifelong friends, but this was different. A crew should be close, but not like this, not while the world around them fell apart.

He paused for a moment, just outside of the sickbay leaning up against the wall, getting himself in check, getting his thoughts back inline.

All he could do right now was wait, but as he stood in the passageway he had a feeling of dread. After Maya's death, well, it was Mike who said it, it was like them admitting defeat. If one went, they all did. Tom didn't want to believe it, but all he could do was hope and pray.

The Nathan James only had Rachel Scott, but Tom had prayed every day since he had been told about the virus that Rachel Scott would be enough.

* * *

Just as he was about to enter the sickbay, Mike walked out. The look on his XO's face told Tom that he wasn't rushing out to tell him good news.

"Mike,"

"I can't," Mike's voice cracked, but only slightly.

"I can't sit in there and watch her die, not that like." Mike shook his head, and Tom understood.

"Are they all getting worse?"

"Yeah," It wasn't what Tom wanted to hear, but a part of him was expecting it, a part of him had been expecting to hear it since they lost Maya, but now it was happening, he wanted more time, more time for the crew, more time for Rachel to think of something, just, more time.

"I still have faith they'll make it through this. You said so yourself Mike, Andrea is as tough as nails, she a fighter. You know her better than anyone else on this ship," Mike shook his head.

"You heard Rachel, this virus, it kills everyone in its path. I was being honest when I said I never stopped loving her, and if it was up to me I would be sat right beside her, but Tom, I can't remember her like that. I can't tell Lily about this. I want her little girl to know how she was a fighter, but I don't want her to know about how this virus took over her body," Mike didn't want to say it, he didn't want to tell Tom, but he saw no point in lying.

As an XO he should have stayed in that tent, he should have been there, but this had become personal, maybe Andrea hated him, or maybe she didn't, but either way, he couldn't stand back and watch her die. Losing her again, but this time permanently.

Tom nodded with a sigh.

"Go. I will stay with them," Was all Tom said, knowing he had no way, will or want to change Mike's mind.

Both men had loved and lost, but Tom wasn't about to make that pain any greater by making him lose her again, this time for good.

* * *

Mike got back to his cabin without being stopped by anyone, a part of him wished someone would have. He needed something to take his mind off things, but he knew once he was inside his only thoughts would be on Andrea and his own family, people who he loved more than life itself, but people who he was probably going to lose. Andrea in the next few hours, and right now, he couldn't be certain that Christine and his three kids were still alive.

He sat down at his desk, now regretting that he was practically done with all paperwork, as he didn't have anything else to shift his focus. He wondered if going back down to sickbay would help, but he knew his first thoughts were right, he couldn't stand there and watch her die. If he was being completely honest, he didn't want to stand there and watch any of them die. Maybe Andrea and Kara more so.

One of them being his first real love and the second carrying a child that may never get a shot at life, or what life it would have in this world, but that wasn't the point. Danny could lose both his lover and his child, and Mike couldn't say that right now he knew what that was like, but he certainly didn't want Danny to have to go through it.

Leaning back in his chair he closed his eyes. He wouldn't be able to sleep, he knew that much, but at least if he had his eyes closed he could picture happier times, relive good memories from both his time with Andrea twenty-five years ago, and more recent times with his children.

The split between himself and Christine had been hard on the kids, but he made sure that whenever he was home he spent time with them, took them out places, almost as if he was the 'fun' parent while Christine laid down the law.

It shocked him how open Christine was to all of the co-parenting. Through the divorce the one thing that had been clear was that she wanted the kids, she wanted them to live with her, but she had always wanted Mike to have a relationship with them. Maybe that was why, towards the end of the marriage Christine always made Mike out to be the fun one, so it wasn't as tough, the kids were already used to his deployments, so Mike, in all honesty, didn't think it would be much different, but of course, he was wrong.

Eventually, they made it work. Mike would have the kids every time he came home, random nights in the week, but making sure to keep to the same schedule Christine had, it took Mike a while to openly admit that he hated always being the fun one, he wanted to experience all of parenting like he had done before, dealing with both the good and the bad.

Now, he wasn't sure if he would be a parent at all or at least a parent to living children. Not that it was a positive line of thought, but he knew, maybe more so now than before, that he could wake up tomorrow with everyone he cared about dead.

Pushing those negative thoughts down as far as he could he thought about his time with Andrea. The joy he felt when he saw her name on the crew list, the smile he couldn't hide when Tom introduced her as the Chief Engineer. Then, letting his mind wander further back. All the time they spent together in the academy.

Mike didn't notice her at first or at least didn't notice her body, he just remembered the hair.

He smiled, remembering how her hair described her perfectly back then. She was fire, pretty to look at, someone, who would happily keep you warm, but would kill you if you messed with her.

Mike wanted to believe that was still true now.

The next thing he noticed was her passion and determination. The kind you had when someone told you how you couldn't do something, so you went and did it anyway. It took Mike months to learn that the person who made her so determined was her father, something Mike heard all too often when helping recruits.

' _A female can't be an engineer.'_

The biggest thing he learnt about Andrea, was the smallest thing. She wanted to be happy. Everyone around them had some crazy goal they wanted to reach, someone to prove wrong, to be the commander of a ship, to have a big office in the Pentagon, to wear the dress blues with the war medals, but Andrea, unlike anyone he'd ever met just wanted to be happy.

' _I just want to die with a smile, really.'_

He remembered her saying that one Monday morning, both of them about to get ready for the day, it was still dark, and it couldn't have been any later than four thirty in the morning, but it was a sentence that changed Mike's perspective on everything.

Engineer, stay at home mum, cat lady, or whatever else it was, Andrea only wanted to be happy.

Brought back to the present by something that Mike couldn't put his finger on, he sighed.

The way things were going, Andrea wouldn't make it through the night, and as much as Mike wanted to believe it, there was no way anyone could smile through the hell they were living in that tent.

* * *

Andrea didn't want to admit it was the end, and not that she had anything to compare this to, but a part of her was definitely feeling as though this could be the end of her. The way her body seemed to go numb, how it hurt to take a breath, and then, in complete contradiction, how restless she was. If she had the energy she was sure she wouldn't be still. It hurt her head that her body seemed to be fighting the virus as well as fighting itself, left brain versus right brain, all of it was overwhelming and painful.

Moving her head slightly she caught sight of the Captain speaking to Dr Scott, and in that moment, he seemed to notice her, and how she was the only one awake.

"Andrea," That couldn't be good. Tom either spoke at her or addressed her with her rank, but never 'Andrea'.

She noticed him walk around the outside the tent, coming to stop just above her head, she could kind of see him, but her eyes were not focusing long enough to notice if he was moving.

"Captain," She tried, her voice scratchy and weak. A part of her wondering if she even made a sound or if she just mouthed the word.

"Try not to talk, you need to save your energy," Andrea tried to smile,

"Don't, need," She stopped to take a breath and try to swallow. "energy to die," Tom shook his head at her.

"You're not going anywhere. Lily needs you, and I need you,"

"Andy…" She began, referring to the engineer who would take her place. She wanted to say how he was capable, more than capable, despite saying just hours ago how he wasn't ready. Then again, when she was promoted she wasn't ready, but everyone needed that push.

"He is more than capable, but I think we both knew that wasn't what I was talking about." Tom smiled, hoping she would see it.

"Mike will be fine," Her voice was getting a little stronger as she spoke, but it was still weak, still too quiet, still not 'Andrea'.

"He doesn't want to lose you again. Not like this, not for good," Andrea gave a weak smile.

"Just, tell him I'm sorry and tell him I'm smiling." Tom wanted to question it, but Rachel's presence at the side of him cut their conversation short.

A part of him wanted to ask Rachel if it was worth telling Mike, for all he knew Andrea could have been anywhere mentally, but he wanted to believe Andrea wouldn't have said it if it didn't mean anything, so he made a mental note to tell Mike later.

* * *

A few hours had passed, and the Captain and XO sat in the Captain's stateroom. Dr Scott had informed them earlier that she was going to inject the five with another, something or other, Tom had given up on trying to remember the medical names. All he hoped was that one of the syringes Rachel had would save those in the tent and then go on to save humanity.

"Didn't join the Navy to sit and wait," Mike commented, looking at his watch.

"I was in sickbay earlier, and I spoke to Andrea," Tom didn't know when the right time was, but if he said it now, at least it would be said before the worst happened.

"Right?" Mike said, waiting for him to continue.

"Andrea asked me to tell you that she was sorry and that she's still smiling," Tom repeated what Andrea had told him.

"She did?"

"Yeah, does it mean something?" Tom was curious, telling someone you were still smiling while dying wasn't something he'd heard of.

"Yeah, means a lot."

* * *

Let me know what you thought and if you want me to continue! Bethany.


	6. Chapter 6

**Here and Now**

 **Part six.**

Thank you for the feedback on part five! As always I hope you enjoy this chapter, reviews are loved and appreciated.

 **Disclaimer - I own nothing.**

* * *

Alive. They were alive. Only just breathing, and not fully with it, or even able to move, but they were still alive.

That was the news Mike woke up to, that was the news he got when Tom came to see him, the news that spread like wildfire around the ship.

" _They're alive, Mike. They made it through the night. She's alive, Andrea's alive."_

Mike didn't know what to do with himself, or how to take in the news he'd just heard, in all honesty, he wanted to go down there, to sickbay and see it for himself, but he knew he couldn't stay professional if he did, so instead, he took watch and waited for Tom to come and get him, or for something else to grab his attention.

"I heard everyone in sickbay is doing alright," Alisha said, from beside him on the bridge.

"They made it through the night, Granderson, which is good."

"I understand taking things one day at a time, but this, a part of me just wants it to be one or the other, we keep them, or we lose them, they shouldn't have to suffer like they are doing," Mike gave her a look, before thinking about what she'd said.

"It would be easier, wouldn't it?" Alisha only gave a short nod before moving away from the XO.

Mike thought about it some more, how Alisha, was probably right, how she'd described how a lot of the crew probably felt. Losing someone was hard but watching them suffer was even worse. Maybe more so in this case. Watching strong, dedicated people suffer. Sailors who'd been shot and laughed it off, tough as nails sailors who were now lying motionless waiting on a Dr to come and tell them it was done, they were cured, or they were going to die.

Mike didn't want to think about the latter.

Mike didn't want to think about it at all. The deployment, the mission that was so simple, that then turned into a mission not just about the US Navy, but about all of humanity. Something that was just going to be four months was looking as though it could be the last time they ever see anyone else. Mike wanted to hope there were others still out there, but with each passing day, it was beginning to look more and more like they were the only ones on the ocean. Which, for two hundred navy sailors should have been fun. It should have been the equivalent to heading to the swimming pool and finding you had it all to yourself, or going to the play park and seeing that no one else was there, and you could do whatever you wanted, and you didn't have to wait for your turn on the slide, but instead, being alone, meant there would be no one to help them, and all they could do was put their faith into a woman who lied and then put six lives in danger.

"XO," Mike turned to see Green stood on the bridge.

"Green, what can I do for you?" He asked, trying to figure out if it was good news or bad news. Green had been by Kara's bedside every waking hour for the last two days and Mike knew Tom would have only sent him with news.

"The Captain want's you down in Dr Scott's lab." Mike nodded, looking over to Granderson who understood the unspoken order to keep the ship sailing until he got back.

As Mike walked off the bridge, he turned to see Green following him. With a smile, he stopped, looking at the younger sailor.

"Don't you have a girlfriend you need to be with right now?"

"Thank you, sir."

"Anytime," If it was the end of the world or the end of Kara's life, Mike didn't know if he had the heart to follow protocol, knowing that so many people had already died without their loved ones.

* * *

"After Maya's death I did some more tests and some more research, and I believe we are now heading towards a cure that is going to work," Rachel said, but it was clear to both men standing with her that the optimism had gone.

"So, if this is the one that will work, what do you keep injecting into them?" Tom asked.

"It's a prototype, a mixture of chemicals that keep the symptoms at bay and essentially keeps them going while I figure all of this out," Rachel explained, pointing to a tray full of syringes.

"I've been in sickbay all morning, I may not have a PhD, Rachel, but I know what organ failure looks like. They don't have time for you to keep failing! You said you can do this, you fought the CDC, and now we're here in this situation and you are letting people down!" Tom's voice started off relatively calm but got louder and angrier as he went on.

Or, maybe not anger, maybe it was more frustration.

"Tom, she's doing all she can," Mike didn't expect to ever jump to Rachel's defence, but he was aware that she was the only hope the crew had.

"Captain, I know this is hard, I know how much you care for these people, but I am doing the best I can. I am certain that within the next twenty-four hour I will have a prototype of a cure that will remain in their systems." Rachel said, looking at the Captain and XO.

"I'll let you two fight this out, but right now I am needed on the bridge," Mike said excusing himself. He had jumped to defend Rachel, but the more she explained the more guilt he felt, the more blame he wanted to put on her. He needed to walk away.

There was no point in saying it shouldn't have happened because everyone knew that was true, and they couldn't change it now, so, Mike made the decision to walk away. To let Tom and Rachel fight it out.

When Mike left the lab, Tom let out a sigh, running a hand over his face.

"I am trying, Captain. This, this pandemic, is bigger than anything I or the world has ever seen,"

Tom let out a bitter laugh, "You say it like I'm unaware of what's happening,"

Rachel gave a short nod.

"It's personal for you, I understand that you have a family at home. I know you've had to trust me,"

"It's personal for us all. We serve in the United States Navy, we are part of the military, we sacrifice our lives, so the people at home, our friends and families can be safe. But right now, all of this, it's on you. I don't know how this virus started, but you need to end it, and you need to start with the five remaining souls in that tent."

"I keep telling you I am doing all I can,"

"And I am a firm believer in actions speak louder than words." Tom didn't want his last words to be harsh, but he couldn't hold in his emotions.

Yes, it was personal, but a part of him assumed this was personal for her too. She must have had someone at home. A family member, a friend, a mentor, someone.

As he walked out of the lab, he took a few seconds to recompose himself, knowing he was going to have to answer a lot of questions when he briefed the crew.

A part of him trusted her, trusted that she could do this, that she could save the world, but the logical part of his brain kept reminding him how he didn't know her, and she hadn't been very forthcoming in the beginning, but this wasn't weeks ago when they left Norfolk, this was the here and the now, and he had to trust her, and if he didn't trust her, he needed to trust her word that she, Rachel Scott, could find a cure, and save everyone. Or at least those still fighting.

* * *

"Never thought you'd be one to jump to her defence," Tom said hours later when he found Mike stood outside sickbay.

"Never thought I would, either. But, you know, she is the only hope," Mike shrugged.

"Sure,"

"Well, it's not like we can turn back now. We've already lost one, I don't want to lose the other five. The moment she put the virus in their system was the moment I had to start trusting her. Jumping to her defence wasn't me saying she's right, it's me saying that we need her, because, I don't know anyone else on this ship with the kind of knowledge she has," Mike knew he didn't need to justify his reasons, but it felt good too.

To assure Tom he was still on his side if there were sides. Rachel Scott, as clever as she was, didn't come across as the most likeable weeks ago in Norfolk, and Mike could see tensions between the Captain and CDC doctor, and while Mike didn't care too much about why she was with them or what she had to do in the beginning, he would openly admit, he was putting all his hope and faith in the woman now.

"Andrea wants to talk to you," Tom said, changing the subject.

Mike turned to look at him properly, his mind now filled with thoughts of what she wanted to say. He wasn't sure he could do the 'I love you, but I'm saying it because I'm dying' talk or the 'find Lily' talk or any talk that involved Andrea not being around. If he was honest, he would have much preferred to relive the last conversation they had, he would have been happy for her to shout at him, or for them to share the light-hearted humour they had, anything but the sad, depressing, end of life discussions, that seemed universal.

"She say why?" Mike asked, knowing it was a stupid question.

"Believe it or not, Mike, she's not doing much talking." Mike gave a harsh chuckle turning his head to look into the sickbay. From the passageway, you could only really see the tents and some distorted versions of the bodies that were in there.

"She's not making much sense, none of them are. So, it might be best to leave it. Being personal for a moment, she means a lot to you and I get that, but, I need you to be at your best, so does the rest of the crew." Mike could hear it in Tom's voice that he was being serious, but Mike ignored it.

"She's dying, the last thing I want to do is not give her what she wants or make this any harder for her," Mike said. It was partially the truth.

The truth would have been Mike admitting that he was being selfish. That he was wanting to relive the past. If he was pushing it, he would have said he was going to take advantage, advantage of the state she was in, so they could forget the twenty or so years they'd been separated, and just be how they were years ago.

"Mike,"

"I can separate it. I know the ship needs me, but Tom so does she. If anything, let me tell her I'm sorry."

Tom sighed before nodding slightly.

"Okay, but you know there is a chance they'll pull through."

"Yeah, but there's an even bigger chance they won't, and the more you scream at Dr Scott, the more, well, she won't find a cure?" Mike didn't know where he was going with that, but he'd said it now.

"Didn't know she was that kind of person,"

"Didn't know you would jump to her defence," Mike shot back, watching for Tom's reaction.

"I am doing what needs to be done,"

"Yeah, and so am I. The only difference is, you keep fighting with the only woman who can fix this, I'm trying to give her all the hope and faith I have,"

Tom took a moment, crossing his arms over his chest, giving Mike a look, almost like one of a twelve-year-old who was being forced to apologise.

"I guess I should apologise for being so harsh to her?"

"She knows how important this is, if she didn't she wouldn't be here, and on top of that, Tom she is the only hope we have of finding a cure, and right now, we have five souls who need it, and that's before we even begin to think about our kids at home." Mike tried to explain.

"Go see Andrea, if you need me, I'll be on the bridge,"

* * *

Mike wondered if or not to reach out and touch Andrea's hand while Dr Tophet explained her condition. Basically, Andrea was still not herself, and anything she says could be a million miles away from who she is. Mike assumed it was some sort of company line, but a part of him felt comforted to know that her condition was being monitored constantly.

"Thank you," Mike said with a tight smile.

He was sat on the end of the small bed, wearing a bio suit that he wouldn't be seen dead in if it wasn't for the virus, hoping Andrea would wake up on her own. He didn't want to wake her intentionally, and not just for his needs. He knew that she'd asked for him, but from what both doctors had said, Mike doubted she'd remember.

A few moments passed, and Mike decided to hold Andrea's hand, but just that seemed to make him emotional.

Memories flooding back of how normal it was to hold her hand twenty-five years ago. It made him realise that even while they served together had hadn't touched her. Not that he would. He had no reason to, and everything was strictly professional, but, right now, it was all he wanted.

Taking another deep breath, he realised how bad he felt, how selfish he was being. He was doing this for him, not for her, he wasn't there because she asked, he was there because he wanted to relive the past, he wanted to remember how it felt to have her, to call Andrea his. He was doing this for his own selfish needs and the longer he sat in that tent the more he hated himself for it.

This was the here and now, and Andrea was no longer his girlfriend, his partner, instead, she was a colleague. He hated that too. If only he had turned down the mission, or maybe if he went but he sat down and told her about it, they would be together? They would have kids while juggling a military career. Instead, she was dying on a Navy ship, not knowing if her little girl had survived, losing hope with every passing day.

All while, Mike was being selfish, and thinking about his own personal needs.

He was just about to get up and leave, being too angry with himself to stay when he felt Andrea squeeze his hand. He couldn't squeeze her hand back, he just waited to see if it was a reflex or if she was awake, waiting to see if she opened her eyes, recognised him, wanted to speak to him.

Andrea's eyes opened a little, and Mike held his breath, but let it go when she squeezed his hand again.

"XO, you came," Andrea's voice was barely a whisper, it was scratchy and dry, so Mike reached over to the makeshift night stands to get her a cup of water.

"I heard you asked for me, and I didn't feel like doing my paperwork," He hoped she wouldn't mind the comment, his aim was to make her smile or at least make this feel a little less doom and gloom.

"I wanted to speak to you. Everyone else in here is a little crazy," She said, before trying to push herself up on the bed, failing miserably, as her body gave up on trying to move.

"Here," Mike moved closer, helping her lift her head, to drink the water. "Better?"

Andrea nodded, letting her head fall back on the pillows when Mike moved his hand out of the way.

"Dr Scott, is getting close to finding a cure," Andrea smiled a little, but Mike could tell it wasn't one of happiness or relief.

"She said the same thing," She paused to take a breath, "before Maya died,"

Mike sighed, wanting to be out of the bio-suit so he could hold her close, kiss her head, tell her it was all going to be okay, and that he had faith in Dr Scott, but he couldn't and even if he said those words, he didn't think they would be of much comfort to her.

"You made it through the night, love. That's all you've got to do," Andrea gave a weak nod, more like a tilt of the head, but with how they all looked, Mike, assumed even the smallest of movements could make them sleep for a week.

"I didn't mean," Mike squeezed her hand again, waiting for her to catch her breath so she could finish her sentence.

"I don't hate you. You, you wanted to go on a mission,"

"Andrea,"

"I tried to wait," Mike heard her voice break, and shook his head stopping her from talking anymore.

Waiting just a moment before saying anything. She wasn't talking nonsense, she was talking about them. Talking about how he left on a mission and never came back. How she tried to wait for him, but she was a good engineer, and a good woman, Mike knew back then, in the back of his mind that someone good would come along, better than him, and take care of her.

"We don't have to talk about that right now,"

"I, I never, I never stopped loving you," Mike didn't how to respond to that statement, so instead, he just gave her a smile and held her hand until she drifted back into an uncomfortable sleep. He waited longer than he should have done before he left, and when he did all he wanted to do was go back in and sit at her bedside until it was over.

After getting out of the suit and going through decompression and everything else Quincy had explained to him, he needed some fresh air. He found Tom stood on the landing area, leaning against the railings.

Mike knew he was there to be closer to the lab, but he wasn't sure if it was to keep up with Rachel's progress or just have someone to scream at, either way, Mike went to stand next to him.

"How's Andrea?" Tom asked when he noticed Mike.

"Still breathing, thank god,"

"Didn't think you were one for god?" Tom asked.

"Didn't think a four-month tour would turn into this, so I guess things change all the time,"

Tom nodded in agreement.

"Did you apologise to Dr Scott?" Tom shook his head, pushing himself off the railing to look into the loading bay where her lab was.

"She looked busy,"

Mike nodded.

"I hear she's working on something important,"

"I heard that too," Tom said, turning back to look at the ocean.

* * *

"I think I've got it!"

"What?" The Captain turned around in the passageway, looking at a very flustered Rachel Scott.

"The cure, I think I've got it."

"Rachel,"

"I'll know by morning,"

Tom knew he couldn't say anything else. All he could do now, all any of them could do now was wait, and see if the five souls made it through the night.

* * *

Thank you for reading. Let me know your thoughts!


	7. Chapter 7

**Here and Now.**

 **Part seven.**

Thank you for all the lovely comments on part six.

Reviews are loved and appreciated as always. Let me know your thoughts on this chapter!

 **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

Captain Tom Chandler walked into the loading bay at exactly zero-seven-hundred hours. That was when Dr Scott would run the samples. The evening before she had injected the five in the tent with what she believed to be the cure, and now, after constant monitoring, and chemical or whatever it was had been in their systems for twelve hours, they could finally see if it was working.

Tom had no idea how Rachel was going to be able to tell, because he had been in sickbay most of the night, and still the five seemed to be the same. Laid still on tiny beds, with lesions all over their skin, some waking up, talking about something random that happened eight years ago, others coughing, and other throwing up, Tom didn't expect a miracle recovery, but he was hoping to see some kind of improvement with them.

"Quincy said there have been no major improvements, but no one's gotten any worse, so I guess that's something?" XO Slattery said to Tom, and to a few sailors who were working and within earshot.

"I was in there most of the night, I don't expect miracles, but do they look like they're improving to you?" Tom asked, his voice a little lower so fewer people could hear.

"I just hope she was right, I am not sure how many false starts they can go through. We are on day four. Dr Scott said so herself, no one makes it past day five." Mike knew he should have said that a little quieter, but he was saying what everyone else was thinking, with each day passing, the remaining five were becoming less likely to make it through.

Mike turned slightly to look at Dr Scott, he had no idea what she was doing, and a part of his brain regretted all the time he skipped out on science in high school, but right now, he didn't care if she was dancing around a fire, praying to the god, or the devil himself, he, just like everyone else, just wanted an answer, and a positive one.

"Sir," Granderson took a few steps into the loading bay, getting the attention of the Captain.

"We have a situation, it's regarding an unknown submarine, we're tracking it on SONAR, but it's getting closer to our position." Tom nodded, looking over at Mike.

"I'll take it. You stay here." Mike said, it wasn't what he wanted, but the Captain oversaw the crew, and right now, it was a case of life or death.

"I'll give you an update as soon as I hear something but get me if you need me," Tom said as Mike was about to leave the bay.

"Let's hope this submarine is either dead weight or on our side," Mike said, hoping it would be the latter, they could use some more help, and possibly another connection to the mainland.

As Mike walked towards the bridge, he took a deep breath, he knew this would never be one thing at a time but right now, he knew he needed to be elsewhere.

* * *

"You told me zero-seven-hundred, Dr Scott, how much longer is this going to take?" Tom asked, taking a few steps forward to be closer to the doctor, or at least so he could feel closer. He had yet to be invited into the confines of her lab.

"Soon, Captain Chandler. I have five samples to run, so far I have had results on three."

"And?" Tom pushed, at least he could know the fate of three members of the crew.

That was all he wanted to know. So, he could prepare for the worst, or for the best. He just wanted to know if or not they would get better, right now, that would be enough. Once he knew, he could prepare his crew, he could talk to them, give them whatever speech he felt was needed and they could begin to move on, grieve if needed, and begin to fully understand what had taken place on the ship.

If worst came to worst then Dr Scott would use their blood, and their bodies to find a cure, and if it was good news the doctor came back with then she could focus on spreading the cure worldwide while Tom and the crew found a way to get home, keeping everyone onboard safe.

"And, you cannot rush science. I need to be sure, those people have already been through enough,"

"At your hands, so I need to know if they're going to survive." Tom watched as Rachel shut her eyes momentarily, before turning to him, and giving him a tight smile.

"So far, Captain Chandler, all the tests are showing good news. In another few minutes, I will be able to tell you for certain if the five will make it through or not." Tom nodded taking a few steps back, finding himself alone in the loading bay, feeling useless.

"Why the CDC? Assuming you can run these tests and talk at the same time," Tom asked after a moment, wanting to fill the silence. He assumed most people didn't enjoy silence, it gave the brain too much control, there was nothing there to drown out your thoughts.

"Why not the CDC?" Rachel replied with a shrug. "I don't know, after gaining all the knowledge, degrees and everything else, it seemed stupid to waste all of it working on an infectious diseases ward at some state of the art hospital."

Tom smiled, she had a point.

"What about you, Captain? Why the US Navy? Why not the Army or the Air Force, or even Special Forces, you seem like the kind of man who would like to run around in the darkness."

Tom chuckled.

"To piss off my father. He's an Army Vet, and at one point in time we didn't see eye to eye,"

"So, what better way to stick it where it hurts than to join the Navy instead of following in his footsteps?" Rachel interrupted, finishing his sentence.

"Something like that," Tom said, seconds before a machine began to bleep.

It wasn't something that worried Tom, working on a ship, bleeping, buzzing and alarms rang all the time. He remembered being in the engine room with Garnett and hearing beeping, and alarms and whatever else go off and seeing how unfazed she was, and how everyone else in the engine room was.

It was the same in CIC, it was something you got used to quickly when you had nowhere else to go.

He watched Rachel closely, as she inspected something, before looking at something else, and with each second passing he wanted to ask what she'd found, if everything was okay, just ask her to give him an answer to what the hell was happening. He was used to being in command, but right now, he was waiting for her to give him the fate of five of the bravest people he'd ever met.

"Rachel,"

"Oh god,"

* * *

Mike stood on the bridge, listening as reports came in from CIC as to where this submarine was. Where it had come from, and what the hell it was doing. They still hadn't gotten in contact with it, which made Mike think that the crew had died, maybe from the virus, maybe from dehydration, or possibly from lack of air.

"Sir, the way the sub is moving I would say the crew is alive. It's not just running because the engines are running, it's being steered. We still haven't been able to reach them." Mike took a minute to think, the sub was getting closer and closer, and with someone onboard, the ship needed to see it as a threat.

"Hail them again, threaten force, see if that gets them to respond."

"Aye, Sir." Mike watched as the young sailor walked away. Hoping the plan worked, the last thing they needed was to be the target of enemy fire.

"How many people do you think know about Dr Scott being here?" Granderson asked, moving to stand next to the XO, using a pair of binoculars to see if she could spot any signs of the submarine surfacing.

"Well, we have the Russians, but so far they've not come back, in time they will though. But, apart from them, your guess is as good as mine." Mike crossing his arms over his chest.

"The Russians could have a sub,"

"Yeah, so we need a plan in case it comes to destroying it."

"Yes, Sir." Mike felt Alisha move from where she had been standing.

Mike ran through everything in his head. The Russian ship wanted Dr Scott, they wanted the cure she was developing and would stop at nothing to get it. They'd not said that yet, but it was easy enough to figure out when they named Rachel Scott as the one they wanted.

It was possible they had a Submarine ready in their fleet, but it was possible it was a ploy, something to distract them, and with their Master Chief, Chief Engineer, and one of their CIC officers hanging on for dear life, Mike knew it was going to be just that bit harder to take it out.

He knew full well everything still ran fine without them, but it was the personal side, that with every passing day, was becoming harder and harder to ignore.

Just as Mike was getting deeper and deeper into his thoughts on how to play this, someone interrupted him.

"XO?"

"Yeah?" Mike turned towards Alisha.

"CIC hailed them. It's the Russians,"

"Call the Captain," Mike said, turning back to look out at the sea. Being on a Naval Destroyer gave people confidence that they could win the fight, but everyone would admit, the fight was always easier when you could see the enemy.

"Captains in sickbay, sir, do you want me to call him out?"

They could be dying. They cure might not have worked. Someone needed to be with them if this was the end, and Tom had always been better at the speeches.

"No. The captain needs to be in sickbay. We'll handle this. Granderson…" Mike turned to the younger woman.

Maybe they should have had a better plan in place, but with everything else happening, the easiest way to deal with the unwanted guests was to destroy them.

* * *

"I heard we have some new friends off our port side," Tom said as he approached Mike on the bridge.

"We did. They identified as a Russian sub, moments later began to retreat, SONAR is still tracking them. They have a bigger plan in mind, I am sure of it, but for now, I think they are just testing us. They know we have Dr Scott, they know she's trying to find a cure." Tom nodded.

"Or, the last time I checked she was trying to find a cure," Mike said, looking over to the Captain, trying to read his facial expression.

"Well, that was over an hour ago," Tom commented, before turning on his heels, picking up the phone near the Captain's chair.

"Nathan James, this is your captain speaking," Tom began, his voice echoing all over the ship.

Mike and Alisha shared a look of hope, smiling slightly. The fact Tom was making such a big announcement at a moment's notice, almost confirmed it was the news they'd been hoping for.

"I can confirm, that at zero-seven -forty-five this morning, Dr Scott, found a cure for the Red Flu." Without Tom saying anything else the ship erupted into loud cheers and cries of both joy and relief.

"I am pleased to say, the five members of our crew who put themselves forward for these trials are now in recovery."

Mike let out a sigh of relief, smiling along with the rest of the crew, before turning to Tom who had come back over to stand next to him.

"Hopefully, we can keep the cure in the dark until Rachel can find a way to make it in masses. We should keep an eye on our new friends, though."

"You're not kidding." Mike shot back.

Tom turned to look at Granderson.

"Full active SONAR, I don't want any surprises," Tom commanded.

"Aye, Captain."

"XO, I believe you have somewhere else you need to be," Tom said to Mike, giving him a short nod, an unsaid green light for Mike to make this a hundred percent personal. Tom would stay on the bridge until Mike returned and then, with the crew, they would take out the Russian fleet and save the world.

Or at least that was the plan in short.

"Thank you," Mike said quietly, before heading down to sickbay, hoping to see for himself what Tom had just announced to the crew.

Hoping that Andrea was still alive, hoping that Kara and the baby were getting healthier, that Miller would be able to progress through his training, hoping the Master Chief would be back to the bridge before the doctors gave him the all clear, and hoping that Tex would get to see whoever's picture was in that locket.

As Mike walked he promised himself one thing. The human trials were the first and last time he put his faith into someone he didn't know.

* * *

"XO, I was wondering when you would make a visit." Mike was greeted by Dr Scott.

"I guess a well done and congratulations are in order?" He said, although there wasn't much joy in his voice.

"If what I hear is true, then it's far from over, but at least these five are on the mend, and now completely immune." Mike nodded, he hadn't known that before, but he took it as some more good news.

"You leave the enemy to us. You now have a cure to mass produce, and I'm sure you'll have a job of distributing it when we get back to the mainland." Rachel nodded with a tight smile, both of them knew the time for celebration was over.

The five had made it through, but they ship was still a target.

"When can we go in and see them, without the suits?" Mike asked, turning to look into the tent. They didn't seem much different, if anything, he noticed their breathing seemed more even, and the pain wasn't nearly as evident on their faces as it had been.

"Day after tomorrow, just to be sure. I would like the cure to be in their systems over twenty-four hours, and to see the symptoms go down before we let anyone in. I know you can't see it, but they are doing better already, the lesions and flu-like symptoms may stick around for a few more days, but their immune systems should fight it off just like they would the normal flu." Mike nodded along, taking a step closer to the plastic sheeting to see the five clearer.

"How long till they're back at work. I know Andrea and Russ well enough to know the moment they can stand, the moment they'll want to be back at it." Rachel chuckled.

"I can see that. Andrea was injected with a deadly virus and still asked for the engine reports. I would say two weeks, maybe a week if they're resting and I can trust them not to overdo it. They will still feel weak and run down, which, I know doesn't help you,"

"I just want them to be back to their normal selves." Rachel understood that.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them, and that was only interrupted by Quincy coming out of the tent and going through decompression.

"XO," Mike turned his head to look at him.

"The Chief Engineer is asking for you," Mike looked at the second CDC doctor and then the tent.

"She can focus a little better now, and it doesn't hurt so much to move, but she's been asking for you since the early hours of this morning."

After a few minutes, Mike was wearing the protective equipment and sat at Andrea's bedside.

"Hey," It was Andrea who spoke first.

"We'll have to be quick, I think Danny is itching to see Kara," Andrea smiled, and nodded, turning her head to see the sleeping woman next to her.

"We were told about the baby,"

"Yeah, well, I think we all had a feeling it could happen," Mike said, and Andrea smiled again, reaching out to take Mike's hand.

"They love each other," Mike nodded in agreement.

"I meant what I said the other day. Yesterday? You lose track of time in this tent." Andrea told him, squeezing his hand.

"We don't have to talk about that right now. Maybe when you're stronger we will, but right now, you need to focus on you. Dr Scott thinks in a few weeks you'll be back to your old self, and back to work."

"Days."

"Weeks. Otherwise, I'll put you back in this tent myself." Mike told her, he tried to keep a firm tone, but he ended up smiling. After just twelve hours, he was beginning to see the Andrea he knew and loved. Maybe she wasn't as loud or as strong, but Mike knew she would be.

Andrea squeezed Mike's hand again, and the XO was overcome with emotion.

"I really did think I was going to lose you again," He forced himself not to let his voice break.

"Me and you, Mike Slattery, we're not done yet."

* * *

"I took your advice and apologised to Rachel,"

"It was never advice, it was just a suggestion," Mike said as he entered Tom's stateroom.

"It was advice, you just wouldn't admit it because I outrank you."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Captain." Mike chuckled.

Mike moved to sit on the couch, waiting for Tom to finish doing whatever he was doing.

"Do we have an update on the Russians?" Mike asked, assuming that was why Tom had called him to his room.

Tom nodded. "We're coming up with plans of attack, SONAR is still active, and they're still within firing range. My guess is, they're like us, trying to come up with a plan, but not moving out of our eye line, just so we don't forget them." Mike nodded.

"Got to keep our eyes open then."

"That's the plan. They want Rachel, they want the cure, they want the power that comes with the cure. It's that simple." Tom explained quickly.

"She knows somethings up, she's a smart woman, she knows how important this cure is, and how many people want it. The Russians get it, they become God's. The only people that can save humanity." Mike said, referring to the short conversation he had with Rachel earlier.

"As much as I don't want to revolve a mission around one person. From this point forward, we have got to keep Rachel, Quincy, that lab and that cure safe,"

"At this point, Captain, I don't think we have a choice. This is here and now, and right here, right now, she's the worlds only hope."

* * *

So, what was your favourite bit? Reviews are loved!


	8. Chapter 8

**Here and Now.**

 **Part 8.**

Your comments are always so lovely! Thank you.

I hope you enjoy part 8, reviews are loved and appreciated – tell me everything!

 **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

Andrea turned when she felt a hand on her arm. She hadn't been fully asleep, more listening to conversations with her eyes closed.

Turning her head to the side, she smiled when she saw Kara looking back at her. Kara now knew about her pregnancy, about the baby and how it would be born immune. Dr Scott had told her when she found out and Danny had mentioned it once or twice, but days ago, all of them were too out of it to understand anything, let alone for Kara to understand she was carrying a child.

"How are you feeling?" Andrea asked. She didn't mind speaking to Kara, she didn't mind speaking to any of them, but with Kara, she felt as though she could serve as some kind of mother figure.

"Happy to have a moment to myself," Kara said, before adding. "But still pretty sick,"

Andrea chuckled and tried not to send herself into a coughing fit.

"Want to talk about it?" Kara nodded.

"We should invite Dr Scott, have a girl's party," Kara said, looking past Andrea to see if Rachel was in sickbay with them. When Kara didn't spot her, she assumed the scientist was in her lab.

Andrea stayed quiet, still holding onto Kara's hand, happy to let the younger woman just talk. Andrea assumed she needed it after the hell she'd been through and everything she was having to take in and understand.

"I love Danny, and I am grateful he keeps coming back in here, but I just need some time to think on my own. Or as on my own as I can be in this tent." Kara began.

"I just, feel like I need a day to just get my head around it all. I want a day where I can just be happy I'm not going to die before I have to think about a baby and what's going to happen. We don't know what home is anymore, the virus, I mean, it could have destroyed everything, and, I may have to go back to that place and raise a baby."

Andrea pushed herself up into a sitting position, feeling proud of herself that she did it without the help of anyone else, and although she probably shouldn't have, she moved herself and her drip and whatever else was attached to her, over to Kara's bed, sitting down on the side of it.

"We will figure it out. No one is going to send you to a place that puts you or the baby at risk, so if the best place for you to have that baby is here on this ship, then I am sure I can make up a crib out of something. The baby will be born immune, Kara, and right now that's all you need to know, so you can take as long as you want to deal with the fact that we have just been through the unthinkable." Andrea said, this time taking both of Kara's hand.

Both of them were unaware of Tex, the Master Chief, and Miller listening in, and also the Captain, XO, Dr Scott, and Dr Tophet stood outside the tent.

"I'm scared, Andrea," Andrea took a breath, before laying down beside the young sailor, wrapping her arms around her, despite how small the beds were and how they probably shouldn't have been that close, and just let Kara cry.

Andrea knew nothing she said would make it better, she was scared too. At some point during the virus, she had come to realise that country they once called home, had potentially been destroyed, and that her daughter may have been among those who'd succumbed to the Red Flu.

So, all the Chief Engineer could do was believe that Rachel could save those who had survived and hope to God that the crew stuck together. The crew would have to be family now because it was beginning to look more and more likely that they were the only people left.

"It's going to be okay. I promise I'm not going to leave you, okay?" She felt Kara nod into her chest.

"You believe Andrea now, child. No one is going anywhere." The Master Chief said.

Kara lifted her head slightly and smiled.

"You know what they say, don't you Kara?" Eric asked, looking over to see Kara shake her head.

"Those who survive deadly viruses together, stick together," Tex answered for them, making them all share a laugh.

"See, we're going to figure this out, no matter how hard it gets."

* * *

"I'd say they're improving," Mike said, looking at those around him.

The group seemed to nod and smile in agreement. Although a lot still needed to be done and the ship was still a target, a weight had been lifted. It would have been better had six gone in and six come out, but five would have to be good enough.

"I will keep monitoring them, but I would say from here, they're only going to improve," Quincy said, as he moved back towards the tent.

"Quincy, maybe now isn't the best time to run further tests on Kara. They can wait until tomorrow morning." Rachel said, quietly so not to be overheard.

"More tests?" Tom asked, giving her a concerned look.

"Just routine tests any doctor would perform on a pregnant woman. Nothing to be concerned about, but after that," Rachel gestured to Kara, who was still being held by Andrea. "I think it would be best to do it tomorrow when emotions aren't running as high."

"I want updates, on all of them, as soon as you can give them," Tom said.

"You will have them. I would say the day after tomorrow is the day people can begin to visit without the bio-suits and after that, I am happy to let them out of this tent. Maybe not back to their own sleeping quarters, but maybe for some fresh air?" Rachel said, hoping the Captain would allow it.

She knew herself that the five must have been going mad not seeing any daylight or breathing any fresh air.

"I think they'll need it. Shame they won't have much to look at." Mike put in.

"Will they be okay, outside?" Rachel shrugged.

"It's a personal thing, depending on how strong their bodies are. I was under the impression that I would have multiple volunteers to help me though." Tom chuckled, that was true, the crew would happily help in any way they can.

The crew, like Tom, Mike, and Rachel at times, had all felt useless, while the people they cared about fought for their lives, Tom knew they'd all be more than happy to help.

"If you'll excuse me, I am going to relieve Granderson, I think she's done more than her fair share of commanding over the last few days," Mike said before anyone else could speak. Excusing himself to the bridge, so Alisha could leave and come and see Kara.

"You're not kidding. Remind me to talk to her tomorrow."

"You got it," Mike said, taking one last look at the five souls in the tent with a small smile before leaving sickbay.

"What's the next order of business then, Dr Scott?" Tom asked.

Rachel motioned to the door before talking. She never did stay in sickbay for too long, she spent more time in her lab, and Tom couldn't say he minded if it meant saving lives.

"Well, helping those guys recover, mass producing the cure and avoiding the Russians it would seem." Rachel smiled at Tom.

"I'm not completely stupid." The Captain shook his head.

"The Russian's are my problem, not yours. As long as you can keep saving lives, this ship's mission is to keep you safe." Rachel stopped in the passageway, putting a hand on Tom's arm to stop him from walking too.

"They want me. They want the cure, and they're going to keep endangering this ship until they get both me and it. I have already endangered the lives of six crew members and we lost one of them, and that's without the number of shots fired while digging through the snow in the Arctic," Rachel sighed. "I refuse to keep endangering you and your crew, Captain Chandler, so if it's me they want, it's me they can have."

Tom looked down at his arm where Rachel's hand was, and even when he looked she still didn't move it.

"Rachel, while on this ship, you are a civilian. I don't care what it is you have or what you can do, the bottom line is, I have a duty to keep you safe. The fight with the Russians, this is what everyone on this ship trains for. So, you're not going anywhere."

"Captain,"

"My ship, my rules, I get the last say, and I say, you're not going."

* * *

"Captain," Russ said when he saw Tom walk towards his bed on the other side of the plastic sheeting.

"I would come in Mater Chief, but those suits don't look too comfortable," Tom said with a smile, waving the other man off when he went to stand up.

"I don't blame you, Sir."

"How are you holding up?" Tom asked when the Master Chief had gotten settled again.

Russ nodded, looking around.

"I made it through, makes me believe that God still has more in store for me," It made Tom smile, how he had kept his faith through it all, and how he seemed to be getting back to normal.

"There's a lot of sailors who are waiting for your guidance, so, try not to scare us anymore."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Russ said, turning to look at his 'roommates' as they called themselves. Noting that they all seemed to be asleep he gave his full attention to the Captain.

"Something tells me you didn't come down here just to tell me I am needed outside sickbay." Tom nodded, having no reason to lie or try and avoid the subject.

"How much do you know?" The Captain asked while scanning the room for a stool to sit on. Finding one, he pulled it over.

Ideally, it should have been done in his stateroom, with the XO, but Tom wanted the Master Chief's opinion on it, and also an excuse to see for himself how well he was doing, through the whole trial he had put on a brave face, being strong for the rest of them, and while Tom saw it as admirable, he wanted to be sure the Master Chief was able to take in all he had been through.

"Overheard some talk about the Russians, and putting two and two together, I assumed they want Dr Scott? She is, right now, a very powerful woman, with the cure to the world's sickness." Tom nodded along, not that he would word it quite like that but that was the top and bottom of it.

"She said she'd go, but," The Captain shrugged. He had a lot of reasons why, but right now he couldn't put them into a sentence. Of course, the biggest one was that Rachel Scott was on his ship, which made her his responsibility, and from all Tom knew about the Russians, once they had the cure, he wasn't sure she'd live to see the next sunrise.

"It would be dangerous, and anyone who gets that cure, may play god, make people beg for it, fight for it."

"She wants to do what is right and I understand that just like I understand she doesn't want to endanger us anymore, but we are a Naval warship, this fight with the Russian's is what we train for." Russ chuckled and nodded.

"Well, Captain, if it's a fight that's coming, count me in." The Captain nodded with a smile.

"It's good to have you back, Russ."

"I'll feel better when I am back on the bridge, but for now, send in the sailors who need me, and I will try and be as much help as I can from this tent." Tom nodded, he wasn't about to argue with him.

Just as he was about to stand up, he folded his arms across his chest, looking at his Master Chief.

"I understand if it's personal, but what kept you going? Why keep fighting when it would have been easier to give up?"

The Master Chief reached down to the floor to pick up the small bible that Tom had seen him reading multiple times before.

" _John 15:13 – Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."_

* * *

"You don't have to keep coming back in here you know. You don't look too comfortable in that thing," Andrea said to Mike as he sat at her bedside.

"Tomorrow we won't have to wear them if all of your blood tests come back negative for the virus. So, don't let me down, Garnett." Andrea smiled, the first proper smile she was able to manage in over a week.

"Has the ship heard anything from the mainland?" She asked, after a moment of silence.

"Not yet. We've been trying to get through to loved ones, but the only communication we've had is with the government, or, what's left of it. We still haven't told them about the cure." Mike explained, watching carefully as Andrea took in the news.

"How come? I mean the cure, it's going to save everyone. If we keep it a secret, doesn't that make us look like the bad guys?" Andrea sat up on the bed, crossing her legs, pulling her jacket a little tighter around her body.

"The Navy, well, the Military," Mike paused, thinking of how to word it. "We don't know who to trust."

Andrea gave him a sad smile, no one ever thought it would come to this, but right now, even with the news Mike had just given her, she didn't want to think about it.

"Can you remember Meghan Roberts? She was in my class, wanted to be a helicopter pilot, but had the attention span of a goldfish?" Andrea asked.

Mike thought for a moment, the name sounded familiar, but they were talking about someone from twenty-five years ago.

"Jet black hair, avoided Commander Alexander like the plague, why?" Mike asked and felt a sense of achievement when Andrea smiled and nodded.

"Just, trying to talk about something other than the world population dying," Andrea answered the unasked question.

Mike nodded in understanding. "I remember you and some of the other engineers, but, the rest of your group, didn't really stick out." Andrea blushed a little.

"I'm surprised you never got caught, spending all that time in the engineering department, despite knowing nothing at all." Mike glared at her in mock offence.

"I know the basics." Andrea shook her head, laughing.

"I think I spent more time trying to figure out how my CO appeared on the walkway without me noticing than I actually did learning anything. It's a miracle they let me on any ship at all, let alone become a Chief Engineer."

"You had a thing for it. You understood it, and you picking things up quickly. Then, all the practise you had in the apartment." Mike said, smiling, before letting that fade.

"Nothing ever worked,"

It wasn't that he wasn't happy to talk about the past, or even have people overhear it. They could think what they wanted about Andrea and his past relationship, or even what was happening now, but, he didn't think it would hurt as much.

It wasn't like anything bad happened. Nothing tore them apart, nothing bad was happening in the weeks, or even months leading up to Mike's deployment. He really did believe he had found the one, and then he ruined something so perfect.

"Don't beat yourself up," Andrea said, reaching out to take his hand, wishing he wasn't wearing the protective suit or latex gloves.

"Don't nearly die on me again, okay?"

"I make no promises." Mike squeezed her hand, an unspoken ask to keep herself safe. He knew he would never be able to keep her safe, she wouldn't rely on him for it, but moving forward, relationship or friendship, he didn't want to nearly lose her for a third time.

"Yeah, well, I need you to try and promise me."

"Like I said before this ship needs me, and I hope to God that when we get home, Lily will need me to. But, I stand by what I said, me and you, we're not done yet."

* * *

Let me know your thoughts! Thanks for reading.


	9. Chapter 9

**Here and Now.**

 **Part nine.**

Part nine is here! Thank you for the feedback, again reviews mean everything, and they are very much appreciated!

 **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

Enjoy!

* * *

"I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I hoped that the further we got from the Arctic, the warmer it would be." Kara joked, as Andrea helped her onto the landing deck, and the rear of the Nathan James.

"Maybe it's just me, but I think I would rather step out into this than unbearable heat."

Andrea had offered to help Kara onto the landing deck, after spending the morning listening to Dr Scott and the Captain talk about everything from returning to duty, what they were going home to, and what to do should they begin to feel unwell, but Andrea and Kara just wanted some fresh air out of that tent.

"I'd complain more, but all I wanted was to be out of that tent, and just feel what it means to have personal space," Kara said with a laugh.

Andrea and Kara weren't alone, and they knew they wouldn't be. Danny had insisted on going with her, but Kara had asked that he give her some space, and she was grateful that the Captain practically ordered him to stay at least five steps behind her. The Captain and XO had followed them both out, but Kara knew the Captain would want to see progress, and from what she'd heard, she knew the XO wanted to keep an eye on Andrea, and then, of course, Dr Scott. Simply making sure they were both okay.

"Ah, yes, personal space, one of the many things you give up when you enlist." Andrea smiled as she looked out at the ocean. Granted, there was nothing to see, the light was fading as the night approached, but she was pleased to just feel the fresh air on her skin, listen to the water, even if it was mixed with the sound on the ship's engine.

"You outrank me, so feel free to pull rank, but, you and the XO?" Kara asked, moving closer to Andrea who had stopped walking alongside the raining and was now leaning on it.

Andrea gave Kara a look of confusion. Not confused about why Kara would ask, even Andrea was curious about her own relationship with Mike, but more how Kara knew when to ask.

"I overheard the both of you talking a couple of times. He seems to really care about you." Kara shrugged, admitting that she'd been listening in, but to not hear what was being said was pretty impossible when you were so close to someone.

"We, um, had something a long time ago. Had this virus never come up, then we'd just be crewmates, but it did, and I nearly died, so, I guess old emotions were brought up and, that's that." Andrea explained poorly. She didn't know what else to say.

Although she was no longer married, and she knew Mike was divorced, it didn't matter. The only reason they found themselves so close after twenty-five years was because of the Red Flu, and because she had nearly died in human trials.

"Sounds to me like you want what happened a long time ago, back." Andrea shook her head.

"It's complicated, and like I say, if this was just a four-month tour, I'd go home to my daughter and he'd go home to his kids and we'd carry on with our lives." Kara reached over to put her hand on top of Andrea's.

"This isn't a normal four-month tour, Andrea," Kara began, but stopped, when she noticed how upset Andrea looked.

"Hey, I didn't mean to,"

"No, no it's not you. I mean, I want to believe Mike and I have something, that something is still there from twenty-five years ago, but I don't want to build something with someone, just because I nearly died. I want it to be real, and because he loves me," Kara shook her head, smiling.

"Andrea, the way he looks at you, the way he talks to you, that's not something that comes with new relationships," Andrea rolled her eyes upwards, tilting her head back a little to stop the tears from falling, but it was too late, she felt a tear roll down her cheek.

"God, this is such a mess," Andrea said, with a laugh that was one of frustration rather than humour, before lifting her free hand to wipe her tears away.

"Yes, it is, but, I think Tex may be right, those who survive deadly viruses together, stay together." Kara wrapped an arm around Andrea, pulling the engineer a little closer, hoping she could repay the favour from the day before and just let Andrea cry it all out like she had done.

"A wise woman once told me that we will get through this, no matter how bad it gets."

* * *

"Master Chief on the bridge," Alisha announced when she spotted the man making his way onto the bridge.

Both Tom and Mike stopped what they were doing to look at him, Russ simply gave them a nod. Although he was outranked, both Tom and Mike knew not to argue with him at the moment, or even order him back down to sickbay.

"Master Chief, good to have you back, but I didn't think that Dr Scott had cleared you yet?" Tom asked, knowing for a fact he was right. He'd been in constant communication with Rachel, and even she had said it would be at least another week before she cleared any of them.

"I just wanted to check in, Captain. I've walked a lap of this ship and wanted to come up to the bridge before heading back down to sickbay." Tom nodded, it was a good enough explanation for him.

"Don't let Dr Scott catch you, I don't want her holding off on giving you the all clear." The Captain said with a smile, before walking back over to his chair.

"It's good to see you up and well, Master Chief," The XO told him.

Russ knew the other man was being genuine and knowing that it was Mike who was ready to talk him out of the trials over a week ago.

"I heard you have risen through the ranks," Russ turned his attention to Alisha quickly, knowing he would soon have to go back to sickbay before the Doctor found him. Admittedly, he wasn't supposed to be on the bridge, but being away felt as though he'd lost part of himself.

"Only temporarily, Master Chief. Just until you are all well enough to return to your posts."

"Maybe I should inform the rest of those in sickbay to rest a little longer, so you can finish what you've started with the Russians?"

"As much as it would be nice to stay up here, I think this crew needs you all back. If there's going to be a fight, we'll need all-hands-on-deck." Granderson shrugged a little, hoping to keep the mood light, but still hoping she was getting across her point and the importance of them getting better so they could be at their best if the Nathan James was being targeted by Russian's.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Master Chief, let me walk you back down to sickbay," Tom spoke up a few moments later after Granderson had taken a few steps back towards the XO, getting into conversation with him.

"I may be able to defend you if Rachel finds you." The Master Chief knew not to argue.

"Sir, if I may," Russ began as they walked through the passageways of the Nathan James.

"It's my recommendation that, along with the enlisted, you try and convince Tex to stay. He has been a vital part of this crew since Gitmo and put himself forward in these trials, that, I can assure you, have not been easy. I believe he would stay loyal to you as a Captain and to those onboard the Nathan James."

The Captain gave it some thought, not that he hadn't been thinking about it before now because it had crossed his mind. Tex could have gone astray, fight for himself, but instead, he chose to assist the Navy in both fighting terrorists and in a science experiment that was killing everyone.

"I'll speak to him about it. But, you're right, he seems loyal to me. Let's get Miller back to training, Kara in CIC, Andrea in the Engine room and you on the Bridge and I'll see where Tex fit's in best."

"I appreciate it, Captain," The Master Chief said, giving Tom a short nod as both men arrived outside of sickbay.

"You five seem to be very close. Those who survive deadly viruses together, stay together?" Tom laughed.

"Whatever get's us through the day."

Tom was about to reply when the door opened, and Doctor Scott appeared, looking slightly shocked to see them both stood there.

"Captain, Master Chief," She greeted them both with a smile. Looking more at the Master Chief than at Tom.

"Rachel,"

"Ma'am."

"I was just about to send a search party, Master Chief. I'm glad you made it back in one-piece thought, but for next time, it would be best if you told us where you were going, or let someone go with you," Rachel explained quickly.

"Yes, Ma'am." Russ nodded, before heading inside, like a schoolboy who got caught playing out after curfew.

"He was with me, on the Bridge," Tom informed Rachel who smiled.

"I thought he might be, and I understand they all want to get back to their roles on this ship, but I need to be monitoring them. As certain as I am the virus is out of their systems, there could still be side effects that I am unaware of and I need to keep track of them all,"

"I understand, and so does the Master Chief, maybe if you were more open with them about monitoring them then it would be easier?" Tom suggested with a shrug before adding.

"I know being open and honest isn't your strong suit," He watched as Rachel's face changed to a look of mild annoyance.

"Thank you, for that advice, Captain Chandler, now, if you'll excuse me, I have some more work to do."

* * *

Rachel stared at the satellite phone on her desk. She knew any moment now that the Captain, and possibly the XO would be in her lab. They were smart men, and the crew of the Nathan James really were as good as she was told, so she knew, that in a matter of minutes when word of her conversation with the Russian's got out there would be a confrontation.

She hadn't been wanting to speak to the Russian ship, but she stood by her word. She had endangered this crew enough, if the Russian's wanted the cure, they could have it, and from there on out, Rachel would have to fight to stay alive and convince them she was a vital part of keeping the world alive. She didn't know enough about their culture to know if they would believe her or not.

A part of her knew what was coming, the confrontation, the fighting, the blame games, but her mission was simple, save humanity. At first that meant going to the Arctic, then it meant putting people through human trials, and now, if it meant giving herself up to the Russian's she would do it, it was that simple, this was her job, she needed to save the world, and although her knowledge was in science and medicine, she knew enough to understand that the Russian's wouldn't give up and that they were more than capable of taking out the US warship she was on, and then no one really stood a chance.

Rachel was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of a door opening, and for a moment she believed it was the Captain, but she was slightly shocked when she saw Andrea Garnett walking towards her.

"Lieutenant Commander, how can I help you?" She asked, getting up from her desk and moving out of her lab.

"Everyone is taking their afternoon nap, at Dr Tophet's orders, but I couldn't sleep. I thought I would take this opportunity to pick your brains?" Rachel smiled, nodding a little.

"Of course," Both women moved towards the landing deck, not making it outside, but so Andrea could use the wall to lean on.

"Science or at least medical science isn't one of my strengths, but I was hoping you could dumb it down for me," Andrea began. "What you put in us, the virus, it sounded like the black death, but, I heard Dr Tophet and you talking, sounded more like Ebola,"

"Yeah, the share some of the same symptoms, and," Rachel paused, thinking how to explain it. "Red Flu is like Ebola times ten. Far more fatal, and if we were to dumb it right down, Ebola is a five and Red Flu, is about a twenty." Andrea laughed slightly.

"So, just your regular flu then?" She joked back.

"Of course. But, we found a cure, and you're all doing really well, and I hope that with the tests I am running, the rest of the world can heal too." It was true, Rachel only did want to save the world, ensure that children got to grow up and families didn't have to worry so much.

"I know this may seem like a jump to the future, but those of us who had it and survived, will we see any side effects in a few years? I know with Ebola, it stays in your joints and makes you sick, your immune system becomes none existent."

Rachel took a moment before shrugging.

"I honestly don't know. This is like nothing I have ever seen before, which is why I am trying to monitor you all closely, but so far, I don't believe you will see many side effects. You may have to build up your," Rachel was interrupted by the opening of the hatch and the angry voice of the Captain.

"What the hell!" Was all Tom said as he stormed into the loading bay where Rachel's lab was.

Rachel watched as Tom stormed in and saw out of the corner of her eye as Andrea tried to straighten up, stand to attention and show respect. This was what she had been waiting for, for Tom to figure out what she'd done, and for him to storm into her lab and confront her.

"Captain," Rachel started, but again Tom interrupted her.

"Williamson, help the Lieutenant Commander back to sickbay," He said to one of the sailors who was stood behind him.

Rachel turned to Andrea and gave her a small smile, she wasn't sure why she was trying to convince Andrea she was okay, it's not like they were close, and she was sure Andrea knew the Captain better than she did, but it seemed right in the moment.

Silence settled in the room, although it wasn't comfortable, and Rachel mentally began to prepare herself for what was coming. The Captain looked furious and the XO wore a blank expression, but she could tell they were both angry with her.

"For the next five minutes, you say nothing unless I ask you too, understood?" The doctor nodded. She could play the game, she had her reasons and she stood by them.

"Did you communicate with the Russians?"

"Yes."

"After I told you not too, after I told you that I and my crew would handle it, after I said to you that the mission was for you to mass produce that cure and for my crew to get us home?" Tom took a few steps towards her, but Rachel wasn't that easily intimidated, they'd fought before, and this time was no different.

"You never told me not to. You said you would handle it."

"I said no talking unless I ask you too."

"I am not a member of your crew, Captain, you don't get to order me around. I have set orders of my own, I have a mission of my own, and I will follow through with it. You and your crew have played your part, now I need to keep on playing mine,"

"By communicating with the Russian's you've made us more of a target and given them the illusion we are willing to negotiate." The XO said in an annoyed tone.

Rachel took a breath, admittedly, she hadn't thought of that.

"You won't be negotiating, I will." She said, but she knew it wouldn't make much difference.

"My stateroom, now. We need to deal with this." The tone of Tom's voice told Rachel he was serious, and right now, she knew better than to challenge him.

* * *

"So, is Dr Scott still breathing?" Andrea asked hours later as Mike helped her out onto the flight deck.

It felt strange to be clinging on to him for dear life, but she didn't trust her legs too much after leaving sickbay twice already in the last twelve hours.

"Only just," Mike replied as they got closer to the end of the ship, leaning up against the railing staring at nothing. With the daylight gone, and them being in the middle of the ocean there was nothing to help them see but the floodlights on the ship.

"How bad did she mess up?" Andrea asked quietly, she knew she wasn't meant to know because she was still on sick leave, but being third in command, and the fact Mike told her everything related to the mission she knew she'd have full understanding soon enough.

"She communicated with the Russian, gave them the impression she would give herself and the cure up if they left the Nathan James alone," Mike explained quickly, looking at Andrea who was shocked to say the least.

"You're kidding, right? I mean, she, she wouldn't make it out alive," Andrea was trying to form a proper sentence but felt as though she'd failed, she simply couldn't believe the doctor who was saving the world could do something so stupid.

"It's not that, well, it's exactly that, but she went against Captain's orders," Andrea shook her head.

"That never ends well." Mike nodded in agreement. He had never been on Tom's bad side personally and only heard of those who had, which only added to the determination to never annoy the Commanding Officer.

"As much as I want all the details, I, um, actually wanted to talk about us," Andrea spoke up after a few moments silence.

It was partially the truth, she did want to speak to Mike, about them, and what the future holds and the past, but she always wanted to get out of sickbay. She loved Kara, almost like a daughter, but she found it hard to focus while Kara and Danny planned their future knowing hers with Lily seemed unlikely giving the fatality rate of the Red Flu.

"Yeah?" Mike asked, slightly shocked that she'd bring it up. It had been conversation in the tent, but Mike had always assumed it was because the tent seemed so final, and Andrea was still getting back to her normal self.

"Yeah. I want you to tell me why you left. Not the first time, because I know about the mission and how much you wanted it, but about the second time, when you redeployed after two weeks." Andrea didn't want to beat around the bush and she wanted to sleep tonight.

Since she had told Mike that they were not done, she hadn't slept. She wanted to move on with him. She knew, deep down it would take a while, but she was okay with that, but she needed to know why. Yes, Mike left the first time, but after the anger had dissipated Andrea knew how much he wanted to be out on the front line, what really stuck with her was the second time. Why didn't he speak to her? Ask to see her? See how she was? He just came home and two weeks later left again.

She wanted to know why. She felt as though she deserved an explanation.

Mike sighed, opening his mouth trying to put together something to tell her, but failed.

"The first time was the mission. I wanted to do it, I had been training for it. Did I go about it the wrong way in terms of our relationship? Yes, and I regret it, but," Mike paused, moving his hand to cover Andrea's as she held onto the railing.

"When I came home, I thought you would be there, and we'd have this happy reunion, and, well, it never happened, and that's no ones' fault but my own. Anyway, I tracked you down, and the short version is, I saw you with someone else and realised that I had made a mistake," His heart ached a little when Andrea pulled her hand away.

"I never did anything with anyone else, not while you were away, not for two years after you left. Even when I met Bill we were friends and only friends for a long time, because I held onto hope that you would come back," Mike could hear the strain in her voice.

"I'm sorry that I put you through all of that. I wanted to come back, and I know that means nothing right now, but I never stopped loving you, I don't think." Andrea put her hand back on the railing, so Mike could touch her again.

"Can I ask you, one more thing?" Andrea asked.

Mike only nodded, preparing himself for another difficult question.

"If I asked you to kiss me right now, would you?"

* * *

Let me know what you thought! Thank you for reading.


	10. Chapter 10

**Here and Now.**

 **Part Ten.**

 **This is the backstory, so please keep in mind this takes place twenty-five years before the story is set!**

 **I did a lot of googling, and in the end, for me personally, the ranks just got too confusing, because the US Navy is both on and off land. So, for the sake of this chapter, Andrea is still a Cadet, and Mike, an Ensign who is waiting to be deployed. (Maybe not right, but I hope you can oversee the errors for the sake of this chapter!)**

Thank you for the reviews! They are loved and appreciated for all chapters! Enjoy.

 **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

Mike Slattery could think of better ways to spend his time than training new cadets, but if this was going to get him on a ship quicker, then he was happy to do it. Stood at the front of the hall full of cadets who were awaiting orders from the commanding officer, Mike was scanning the room for anyone who looked particularly scared.

He remembered his first day in training, of course, he was cocky and confident, but he knew a lot who were not. He assumed it was all down to speciality. He was in training with a guy who wanted to be in intelligence, he had a thing for computers and research, but couldn't run for more than ten minutes without having to stop and ask for water.

However, in this class, no one looked scared, or even like this was a big deal. They all had their attention front and centre and seemed to be taking in all that was being said.

"Ensign Slattery will be here to assist you with your mandatory training." The eyes in the wall shifted to him, but he kept a blank face, letting his eyes scan the room once more.

This time, however, he noticed someone he hadn't before. Or at least hadn't noticed fully. He noticed the red hair before he noticed the face, and then it took him a few seconds to notice that the person he was looking at was female. But by that point, even he knew he'd been looking for too long and had to change his line of sight.

The commanding officer carried on taking and Mike did all he could to not look back in her direction, but by the end, he turned his head and caught sight of her again. Thankfully, she was paying attention to the CO and he hadn't been caught. He made a mental note to check the personnel files later. It was against protocol, but he didn't care, he wanted to know her name, hell, who was he kidding? He set eyes on the woman only minutes ago and he found himself wanting to know everything.

As the commander's speech came to an end and everyone began to file out, Mike followed, reminding himself he needed to help with the weapons training.

"Slattery," He turned when he heard his voice being called.

"Sir?" He said, standing to attention.

"Just a couple of names I want you to be aware of. We have three females in this group, although I want you to put one of them through hell. She's proved to be quite the tough kid, wants to be an engineer, and I want to know if she can handle the stress." Mike nodded, not feeling as though he needed to say anything.

He didn't really agree with what the Commander was saying, but he knew he couldn't argue.

"Andrea Wilson. I think you'll have noticed her, she's got red hair, not too much shorter than yourself. Got through intake without any issues, seems dedicated, but, you know, being an engineer…"

"I'll keep an eye out, sir." Mike waiting until his CO had left before turning back to the crowd of Cadets.

Looking around he spotted Cadet Wilson. Well, at least now he knew her name, but just like earlier he wanted to know everything. She seemed tough, willing, dedicated, and although Mike knew it was probably wrong to say, she was stunning.

He walked over to the group, listening to the training instructor, he wasn't sure how he felt about putting the redhead through hell, mainly because he had no issue with woman in the Navy, but at the same time, he wanted to see how strong she was, see how far she would go. She looked dedicated, and that was something Mike definitely wanted to see for himself.

* * *

"Ensign," Mike stopped and turned around when he heard someone calling him.

He found himself looking at Andrea Wilson, the cadet he was told to keep an eye on, and the one cadet he was actually happy to keep an eye on. Dressed head to toe in combat gear, holding her target practice paper in one hand and her cover in the other.

"Cadet Wilson," Slattery greeted the woman, folding his arm across his chest.

"You already know my name. I heard in the military that was a bad thing." Mike shrugged.

"Not many females in this training class and not many with red hair, so you're pretty easy to remember." It was a simple explanation, and an honest one, but Mike assumed the more he got to know her, the more he'd remember her for completely different reasons.

Andrea blushed, smiling ever so slightly.

"I wanted your advice, about training. I guess I am not what you call a natural when it comes to sniper rifles." Mike had seen it. With the other weapons, Andrea seemed to get on fine, but she was right, and it was refreshing to see someone admit they needed help, admit that what happened in training wasn't their best.

Mike would be the first to say he would have never admitted that if it was him.

"You got plans this weekend, Cadet?"

"No, Sir."

"Shooting Range. Saturday. Zero-seven-hundred. I'll help you out." Mike Slattery was pretty sure he just broke at least three of the rules that the Navy had drilled into him, but, it was a risk he was willing to take.

First, it was looks, then it was her personality, now Mike really wanted to get to know her.

"Thank you, sir, I appreciate it."

"Don't mention it. And I mean that seriously…" Andrea chuckled, nodding in understanding.

"I get it, but I don't think the training instructor is too keen on me. You seem like my next best shot. If I screw this up, they'll hold me back…" Andrea shook her head a little, stopping herself.

"He's like that with everyone, or at least the cadets, and trust me, you won't be held back. I don't know many engineers who need to use a rifle." Mike told her, hoping to ease her embarrassment.

He motioned for them to keep walking.

"Why engineering? Why not intelligence?" Hopefully, Mike would get some kind of answer. It would be a start, something he could work with, a bit of information he could build on. She looked as though she had reasons, some of them, he assumed, were not as good-natured as the others.

"Well, took me four years to realise POTUS was an abbreviation for President of the United States, so I don't think intelligence is really my thing. Besides, I fix Navy warships sounds so much more interesting, no offence."

"None taken, Cadet."

Andrea stopped walking, looking up at Mike with a smile, but a smile that didn't seem too genuine.

"Look, I know you don't get many females wanting to be engineers, but if you trying to get to know me is a tactic to stand in my way…" Andrea went to say, but Mike stopped her.

"What? So, I can't be interested in why you wanna do this." Mike was slightly taken back by what she'd said, and he knew he should have called her out on it, but he was too shocked that she was willing to stand up for herself.

"No. See you on Saturday, Ensign."

"See you Saturday,"

* * *

 **Four months later.**

Andrea Wilson walked through the corridor of the apartment complex. She knew it was late if she were to guess it was getting towards midnight, and she knew if anyone caught her rumours would start and then spread faster than she could run, but she knew as long as she was on base for six the next morning she'd be fine.

It had been months since Mike had helped her out at the firing range. In all honesty, she was surprised he'd shown up after what she said, and when he did show up she began with all the apologies, but Mike shut her down, telling her it was fine, which she found hard to believe.

He told her how he was just curious, and how he liked that she stood up for herself, and on top of that, he said if anything, he wanted to help her, not try to hold her back.

It was from that meeting that they began whatever this was. Andrea wanted to call it dating, but she didn't know if she could, not because she didn't have feelings for Mike, but more so, because she knew if she said 'relationship' things would begin to go wrong, and she really didn't need that. Not when she was going through training, not when she had goals to achieve, but at the back of her mind a voice told her that a relationship was exactly what this was.

But, despite all of that, she still couldn't stop herself for seeing him, having dinner with him, meeting him, talking to him, and showing up at his apartment whenever she had time to.

Knocking on the apartment door, she glanced down the hallway, hoping he would hurry up so she wouldn't risk being seen.

As the door swung open, she didn't wait for him to invite her in, she just moved passed him and waited for him to close the door and turn the lock.

"Sure, come on in." Mike chuckled as he moved away from the door, closer to her in the middle of the room. His apartment was more like a hotel room, the main room had a bed and a closet, then two doors to the left lead to a kitchen area and a bathroom, it wasn't much, but with the amount of time Mike spent on the Naval Base, it served its purpose.

Andrea turned to look at him, waiting a few seconds before she dropped her overnight bag and closed the gap between them, reaching up to cup his face and kiss him.

Mike wasted no time in wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her as close as possible, kissing her back with some much force he was sure they'd both stumble and end up on the ground. Thankfully, they both stayed upright, but neither of them was stupid, they knew tonight they'd end up in bed together, loving each other until Andrea had to leave to make it to the base on time.

"You know," Mike said, only millimetres away from her lips. "If you're gonna keep coming around, I might as well get you a key,"

Andrea kissed him again.

"Maybe if you told your CO like you said you would, I wouldn't have to keep looking over my shoulder," Andrea smiled against his lips, giving him no time to reply before kissing him a third time. She didn't want to argue, not tonight.

"We've been doing this for months, Mike…" That statement wasn't to cause a fight, more of a reminder that this had been going on for months, and sooner or later they'd get caught, and Andrea didn't know how well the 'it's better to ask for forgiveness' speech would go down with her CO.

"I know, baby, just, let's not talk about it right now. I will tell my CO when I know that he won't transfer either of us, once I know for sure they'll be no serious repercussions then I will tell him," Mike paused, "But, for now, sneaking around, it's pretty hot."

"I love you. I know we've said it before, and I'm not trying to guilt trip you, Mike, I'm just saying it because it's true." Andrea said, her voice shaking a little in the middle. 'I love you' wasn't a phrase to be just thrown around.

They'd said it too each other before, after dating for a few weeks, and Andrea knew Mike meant it, and she was sure that Mike knew when she said it, she meant it. She just wanted to keep saying it. Not to guilt trip him, not because it filled the silence, but because she was in love with him.

Mike loosened his grip around her waist, pushing her gently towards the bed, walking her backwards until she sat down.

"I love you too, Andrea, but you know what they say," Andrea knew that grin all too well.

"What do they say?"

"Actions speak louder than words,"

* * *

 **A year later.**

It was their first day off together in a while. Since telling his CO months ago, Mike had a suspicion that it was no 'poor luck' that he would be working when Andrea was on leave and vice versa.

"I can hear you thinking. Stop." Andrea groaned from under the covers. Finally, after a year of dating in secret, or as secret as they could be, Mike had finally told the higher-ups, and Andrea no longer had to sneak in and out of his apartment.

"Sorry, love."

There was a moment of silence before Andrea turned on her side, so she was facing him, but still refused to open her eyes. It was her first weekend off in months, and she was determined not to leave the bed until at least eight. Early mornings didn't bother her, but when she did have time off and she was up early, she'd always convince herself that it would have been easier to go to work.

"What are you thinking about?"

"You really want to know?" Mike asked, reaching over to move a few loose strands of her hair out of her face, before leaning down and kissing her forehead.

"It woke me up, so yes," Andrea replied.

Mike didn't want to share his theories about how the commanding officers hated him, or even admit that he had the time to think about it. Chances were the higher ups had nothing to do with the scheduling, and both he and Andrea being different ranks and in different departments had a part to play. He was overthinking it.

"You wanna get married?" Mike asked, before adding, "Not right now, but in the future, you ever thought about it?"

Mike propped himself up on his elbow, looking down at his girlfriend, wondering if she'd finally open her eyes.

"I'm not too sure I'm a white dress kinda girl," Was the answer he got.

Mike thought for a minute.

"You know, I've never actually seen you in a dress," That time Andrea did open her eyes, but only to glare at him.

"Well, you're never going to. Dress whites are as close as you're going to come, and when the time comes that females can wear trousers are part of their uniforms will be the day I celebrate." Andrea said, stretching before mirroring Mike's position, propping herself up on her elbow.

"Morning," She said, leaving the conversation unfinished for a moment to lean in and kiss him properly.

"Morning."

"So, if marriage is off the table, you still want kids?" Andrea gave him a look, before shrugging a little.

Marriage, kids, family life, it all seemed like something that she'd never have. She committed herself to the Navy, she was prepared for eight-month deployments and long hours in dry dock, marriage and kids didn't seem to fit into the equation.

"The Navy comes first. I worked my ass off to be an engineer, and deployments and babies don't really work well together. I mean, yeah, it'd be nice to have a baby, but, realistically, I think I'm just not built that way." Mike reached out to stroke her cheek.

Despite her voice remaining firm, Mike could tell it was something she didn't want to say out loud, something she didn't want to admit to thinking about.

"I think if it was us, we could make it work."

Andrea thought about Mike's words for a moment before leaning over to kiss him again.

"Would you still love me if it wasn't something I wanted?" She was asking out of curiosity.

Mike nodded, "Yeah, I mean I love you for you, not just so we can have a kid."

"You wanna show me how much you love me? Considering this is our weekend off, we don't have to be anywhere, we could take our time?" Andrea asked, hoping to move on from the conversation they were just having.

Mike didn't reply to her, he only gave her a look, before reaching over to grab the bottom of the nightshirt she was wearing.

* * *

 **Three years later.**

"I'm sorry Andrea, I thought he would have told you," Commander Grant said with a sympathetic smile.

Three years. She had given three years of her life to Mike and he'd just walked away.

"No, Sir. I appreciate you informing me though. You didn't have to."

"I'm married, Andrea. My wife told me how she felt when I first deployed, and she knew about that."

"Thank you, Sir."

Andrea left his office, heading straight for the bathrooms. She was broken. He'd left. He'd deployed and not said a word.

At that moment she questioned everything. The three years they spent together, the time they spent making love, the kisses, the pillow talk, the future plans, wedding cakes, kids names, all of it. She questioned all of it.

And the reason she questioned all of it was because of Mike's own words.

" _So, you believe in distance makes the heart grown fonder?" Andrea asked._

" _I believe that you don't walk away from the people you love."_

* * *

 **Present day.**

Andrea felt someone touch her arm and opened her eyes, giving herself a moment to realise she was no longer in the bathroom, but on the Nathan James, in sickbay.

"Must have been some kiss," A voice said from beside her. Kara was laid on her bed, and Rachel was sorting out some of the tubes that were coming out of various places on Kara's arm.

"Excuse me?" Andrea said, turning over a little more to see her better.

"Well, XO brought you back, and you were smiling like an idiot." Kara filled her in, and Andrea couldn't help but blush.

Rolling back onto her back, Andrea brought a hand up to her mouth.

"No need to worry, Andrea. I think we all saw this coming." Rachel said as she walked past the foot of Andrea's bed.

"I think I would much prefer to hear you say, 'your secret is safe with me'," Andrea replied.

"Oh no!" Kara laughed, "Alisha is gonna love this gossip."

* * *

Did you like it? Did you love it? Let me know!


	11. Chapter 11

**Here and Now.**

 **Part 11.**

So, I think I am done with preplanning this story, so now we begin the wonderful game of 'trying to edit and upload this story before my exams start!'

Thank you for the comments! I hope you enjoy part eleven. As always reviews are loved and appreciated!

 **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

Andrea nodded along to everything Dr Scott was telling her. It wasn't that she knew it all, it was more everything that was being said sounded more like common sense than medical advice.

"I know this doesn't seem like much because you still can't work, but you can go back to your own quarters, and you can have a little more freedom," Rachel gave her a soft smile, before checking her notes once again, scanning through the pages quickly.

"Freedom isn't something you get when serving on a naval destroyer but thank you for making this sound better than it is," Andrea replied, she wasn't trying to be sarcastic, but she knew that's how she'd come across, in her defence, she was tired, and for the last five minutes had been examined for what felt like the eighth time that day.

"Andrea, a week ago no one thought you would live, this is a big step forward." Mike put in from where he was stood near the door. Close enough to hear what was going on, but further enough away not to see Andrea while she was being examined by Dr Scott.

Mike had insisted on being with her while Rachel went through all the necessities of her being allowed back to her own cabin. Andrea hoped he was doing it to the others as well, she didn't need rumours, even if a part of her was happy for him being there. It had been a while since she'd had moral support, and even if they never did become involved again, at least he was there when she needed him – even if it did cause her some hell.

Her last three days in the tent after Mike kissed her, she'd been dodging questions from nearly all of them about what happened with the XO. She was sure by now that people knew something was going on, she just hoped they didn't know what, but even if they did, it would be a rumour.

She didn't know how they could know what was going on when not even she knew what was going on between herself and Mike.

"Every other day I will spend some time with you, go through some simple tests, remembering things, sensory skills, fine motor skills, ect, just to make sure you're up to going back to the engine room, and then, as you know, Captain Chandler will check in with you before signing you off medical leave." Andrea nodded once again.

"Thank you,"

"No problem. I don't think I need to go over anything else. It's really just using common sense, and if you don't feel well, then to let me know so I can check you over. Otherwise, I think in a week you'll be back to the engine room, and hopefully, you can try and move past this," Rachel said, her voice faulting a little as she got to the end of her sentence.

It was a stupid thing to say.

"My daughter might be going through the same hell I endure in that tent. Dr Scott, I don't think I'll be moving past this anytime soon." Andrea refused to give the woman a smile, almost angry at her words. How could she move past something that was still claiming lives, how could she move past her experience when it could be the same thing that had either killed or was killing her baby girl?

"Come on, I'll walk you back to your quarters," Mike said, hoping to put a stop to whatever apology Rachel had ready.

Mike held his hand out to help Andrea off the bed and was a little surprised when she took it.

"Take it easy, Lieutenant Commander, we want you back at work as soon as possible."

* * *

"You didn't need to walk me back to my cabin, XO," Andrea said, as she took a few steps into her cabin, she had to admit, it felt like it had been months since she'd been in this room since she'd seen all of Lily's drawings, and all her own personal items all in their place.

"I know, but I wanted to make sure you were alright." Mike shrugged, it wasn't a lie. Andrea had always been sentimental, even when training as a cadet, she would carry personal items around with her, and keep a box under her bed, keepsakes from home.

Mike knew nothing would have changed. He knew Andrea was more than capable of getting back to her cabin, he knew that physically she would be fine, but it wasn't her physical health that worried him, it was her mental health. He wanted to make sure she would be okay sleeping in a room with all of those memories.

While he hoped Andrea would see Lily again, the further the crew went on with their mission, the less likely it looked.

"You know I am more than capable of holding my own." Mike smiled.

"Yeah, I know, but this is different." Andrea could only nod at his words, it was different, it was hell on earth, it was death and all its friends – different seemed like the understatement of the century, but Andrea didn't want to say anything.

"So, do you want to make sure I get undressed okay, or are you going to leave now?" Andrea asked, sitting down on her bed, trying not to stare at all the artwork on the walls.

Mike smirked, folding his arms across his chest.

"That is not what I meant, and you know it." Andrea glared at him, her voice changing slightly from being fine, to a little embarrassed.

The XO raised his hands in mock surrender but shook his head after a moment.

"I'm sure you got that covered, but, before I go, I wanted to ask you something." Mike took a step forward, leaning against the wall opposite where Andrea sat on the bed.

Andrea remained silent, waiting for Mike to speak. She could tell by the way his voice changed, by the way he spoke, how quiet he was, that he wanted to ask something important.

"I know it's against regulations, but at this point, I'm not sure I care. I want to start over, Andrea." Mike's voice was quiet but genuine.

He hoped he could get some kind of reply, he didn't want to base a relationship on the end of the world, but he didn't want to die knowing that they didn't try, they didn't try and get that happiness back, that love back.

"I get it, Mike. Me nearly dying, it must have been tough, but we're on a mission and right now we need to be those people, we need to be members of this crew…" Andrea stopped herself, she didn't know where she was going with this.

"I want to start over, Mike, I do, I just don't think It's going to be as easy as stepping back into an old routine," Andrea finished.

Mike nodded with a smile.

"I'm not wanting to step back into anything, I just want to start again. I'm not asking for a commitment and I know the mission comes first, I just want to know we have a shot at this," He gestured between the two of them.

Andrea smiled, standing up, going against everything she knew.

She reached out to take his hand. "You always want to plan things, and I know a lot of that comes from the Navy, but we can't plan this out, this isn't a step by step, this is a 'keep messing it up until we get it right' kind of thing. The mission comes first, and then it's our kids, and maybe when we figure out the state of the world, we can really try," Andrea paused, moving in a little closer.

"My feelings for you haven't changed in the last twenty-five years, so, I am sure they'll keep for another few months," Andrea sighed. "But right now, you need to go,"

Mike leant down, lightly kissing her forehead before letting go of her hands.

"I don't plan on going anywhere, not this time," Mike said, hoping it would be reassuring.

"Neither am I, I just think we both know that right now, we have bigger things to worry about than our relationship status," Mike chuckled lightly, taking a step towards the door.

"Yeah, I hear the Russian's are after us,"

"Really? I heard something about a pretty deadly virus…" Andrea shot back, sitting back down on her bed, waiting for him to leave the room so she could finally have some peace and quiet, and maybe some time to really gather her thoughts and emotions.

"Get some sleep," Mike told her as he opened the door.

"You should take your own advice, XO."

Andrea watched as the door closed behind him and let herself fall back onto the bed. It wasn't comfortable at all, but it was hers, in her cabin, where she hoped no one would bother her for a few hours. While she would stick with those she suffered with, in that tent, she was happy to be alone for a little while.

It wasn't a sentimental room, it was simply a space on a ship, but it was a space where she could take the time to cry, comprehend, get angry, feel happy, and whatever else she felt like doing to mentally prepare herself for the engine room, and to hear what was happening in the world – or what she assumed was left of it.

Getting herself as comfortable as she could Andrea let the first of many tears spill over her face. Tears of joy, tears of sadness, and tears of every emotion in between. She cried because she had survived the trials, she cried tears of happiness for Kara and the baby, the cried because she missed Lily, she missed her home, she cried over Mike, tears of happiness, joy, anger and confusion, and she cried, because she felt like she had every single right to, and no one could tell her otherwise.

Right now, and for the next thirty minutes she was going to be selfish and she was going to cry and get angry and feel every emotion she wanted to, because she was still here, still breathing and still living through hell.

* * *

Rachel Scott was not the type of person to get nervous easily, she knew she needed to be calm and collected in order to do her job. She was thoughtful, but it was more academically, and sometimes personally when comforting the people around her. It didn't need much explanation, but she was a doctor and a dedicated one at that, she didn't get emotional, she got the job done.

However, as she sat on the couch in Captain Chandler's stateroom, she felt nothing but nerves. She had been calm about the Russian's, even though it did scare her a little, she had been calm about the trials, even though she knew the risks, but knowing she was about to have a very difficult conversation with a very difficult man, in her opinion, well, it made her nervous.

"Dr Scott," Tom said as he entered his stateroom.

She didn't know where he went, but it didn't matter, she'd probably never know. A part of her felt like this was payback, she kept the crew in the dark about the virus, so the crew were now keeping her in the dark about the Russian warship.

"Captain Chandler," Rachel stood up, but he quickly waved her off, Rachel took that to mean there little meeting wasn't too official, but she knew it wasn't a friendly catch up either.

"You need updating about the Russians. Assuming you haven't already spoken to them,"

"I don't think now is the time for sarcasm, do you?" Rachel shot back, not appreciating the tone of his voice.

Tom gave her a look, then smiled. "Sorry,"

Silence fell between them as Tom moved to his desk, opening a file, and then looking back up at Rachel.

"You're not going. I think I have made that pretty clear, but we need to talk about our options. Right now, we are trying to contact multiple Navy ships and submarines that we know are deployed, and hopefully, if we can get through to them, they can take you back to the mainland where you can keep on working," Tom was about to continue with their second option, but Rachel stopped him.

"I'm not leaving the ship." It was a clear statement, and Rachel knew it was a contradictory one, but Tom only chuckled.

"It sweet, you really think you have a choice. I know that no one else can save humanity, I get that this is on you, but you need to understand," Tom was cut off again.

"I understand. When I communicated with the Russian's it gave away our position and a load of other things you keep repeating to me. I am doing all I can to try and save the world, Captain, and right now it feels as though you are against me."

Tom's anger flared up, and while he knew he shouldn't be directing any of his anger at her, he couldn't help it.

"Against you? For god sakes, Rachel, I put six members of my crew at risk for you! I let you kill one of them! I am trying to work with you, but you are making it impossible. _You_ are the mission, to keep you safe while you figure out how to save humanity! Does that really sound like I am trying to work against you?" He slammed his fist down on the desk and was almost proud of himself for not jumping out of his chair just to prove a point.

Rachel waited for a moment, and Tom felt a pang of regret in his stomach. He knew she was trying, trying to save the world, trying to do what was right, and right now, they were both to blame, because they were both working against each other.

"Captain,"

"Don't. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lost my temper. I think, personally, we need to figure out how to work together, because I am not letting you off this ship unless you are getting onto another one to go home and save everyone," Tom paused, taking a deep breath leaning back in his chair, closing his eyes momentarily, before speaking again. "You are clearly very good at what you do, and you deserve some respect for that, and I am sorry if I haven't given it to you, but respect and ranks aside, Rachel, I can't guarantee your safety with the Russians and if I can't ensure your safety, then I can't ensure the world's population will survive." His voice was quieter now, softer, calmer almost.

Rachel stood from the couch, swallowing hard as tried to fight the tears she felt building behind her eyes. She was not about to cry in front of him.

"Captain, I appreciate all you've said, and I agree we need to come up with a plan, but I can't see any other way forward. The US Navy is one of the best in the world, I know that, but we're up against the Russian's and they are relentless, if they don't give up, surely they're going to start firing on us, and if they start firing, there may not be a US warship when it's all over, and without this ship, there isn't a lab, and there isn't me…" Rachel sighed, she knew she was telling Tom everything he already knew, and probably had known from the start.

Tom stood, so he was almost face to face with the scientist.

"I've been in the Navy a long time. My XO and Chief Engineer signed up when they were teenagers. I have a Master Chief who has dedicated his life to serving for the United States, I have kids down in CIC who were built for working on ships, I have a helicopter pilot who lives in the sky and men and woman who are willing to lay down their lives for the cause. So, Dr Scott, I don't know much about you and the CDC, but I know everything I need to about my crew. This ship and those on it are built to fight, so I need you to do whatever it is you need to, to make sure when we get home we can cure those who are still out there, and while you do that, my crew and I will handle the Russians." Tom's voice was firm as he spoke.

"Is there anything else I can reassure you on, Dr Scott?" Rachel shook her head.

She was pretty sure he covered it all. She didn't want a fight, but she realised she did need the reassurance. She knew if they could keep the ship afloat, she could mass produce the cure, step by step saving humanity.

"You can go now," Rachel nodded this time, before moving towards the door.

"Rachel," Tom said, as she pulled the door open. "Keeping you safe is part of the mission, and the Nathan James doesn't fail its missions."

Rachel knew it wasn't just her who needed to believe that, the Captain did too.

* * *

"Lieutenant Commander, what can I do for you?" Mike asked when she entered his room.

Andrea gave him a smile. She was happy to feel like a member of the crew again and not just a test subject. She knew she still had a week or so to go before she was finally back to work, but at least now she didn't feel so useless.

"You can hand me the engine report, so I can get caught up," Andrea replied to his question.

She was pleased nothing was going to change between them, at least not majorly anyway. The way she spoke to him was still the same. She had been lucky with both the XO and Captain, she'd always felt at ease with both men, all three of them were straight-talking, she couldn't speak for Tom or Mike, but for her, if definitely made working in a male dominant profession a lot easier.

"I'd argue with you, but, I'm not sure I'd win." Andrea gave him a tight smile as she took the file he was offering her.

"Why don't you sit down?" Mike gestured over to the couch.

Andrea thought for a moment, trying to figure out if it was because she'd just survived the Red Flu, or because he wanted to speak to her. That was the thing she was dreading the most, people treating her differently because she had been in the tent, she was fine, she felt fine, and she knew that once she'd done a full shift in the engine room, it would be like she'd never been away, but she doubted that would change how people looked and treated her.

"Fine, but I do not need a babysitter, sir. Dr Scott cleared me. Well, partially cleared me," Andrea corrected herself.

"I know," Mike nodded. "You said you wanted to get caught up, I thought I could help with that,"

Andrea nodded, sitting down on the couch in his room, opening the file he'd given her, giving it a quick glance before turning the page.

"Have you spoken to Tom about going back to your workstation?" Mike asked, watching her.

Andrea shook her head, not looking up from the file. "I'll try and do it tomorrow, he seemed pretty busy when I saw him earlier, and then I heard Dawson talking to Stevens, apparently he and Dr Scott were having a shouting match," Mike chuckled.

"Yeah, that seems to be a regular thing. You'd think the world was ending the way they go at each other," Mike said.

Andrea looked up and glared at him.

"Too soon?" He asked.

"Much, much too soon, Mike."

"There was a time you found my dark humour amusing."

Andrea smiled, "Yeah, I did, but back then I hadn't been injected with a deadly virus. Anyway, back then, I don't think we took life as seriously,"

"We took our jobs seriously, I think that was enough," Mike said, trying to think about what they did together. In all honesty, they didn't do anything big, time off was always spent at home, on the couch, sometimes they'd venture to the mall, or head to their parents for dinner, but, it was usually spent in bed, talking.

"Maybe it was. It was nice though, to just talk. I think that's what my relationship with Bill was missing, just the talking, the random conversations, he always needed to be doing something, you know, days off, even before I had Lily, he always wanted to be out, I guess with you, it was just easier."

Andrea was right though, their relationship was easy, they did a job they loved and understood the long hours and early mornings, the days after a training drill when they didn't want to move, it was just easy, the conversation was good, and they went with the flow, and they supported each other.

"What was Lily like?" Andrea looked at him, her expression unreadable, almost blank.

"I mean, if I'm going to help you find her, then I need to know what she's like. I assume she's a lot like you. She looks a lot like you," Mike went on to say, a way of explaining himself.

"Um, I guess. She's a firecracker, that's for sure…" Andrea smiled.

"I'm intrigued, tell me more," Mike told himself everything else could wait, they both needed to relieve happier times in the hell they were living in.

Maybe remembering good times would help them all get through this. Just maybe.

* * *

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you thought of this chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

**Here and Now.**

 **Part Twelve.**

This chapter turned out to be a little longer than planned, and it's not my best work, but I hope it's still good.

Reviews are loved and appreciated, thank you for all other feedback! Enjoy part twelve.

 **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

The sun was just coming up over the horizon as Kara, Danny and Andrea stood on the landing deck. Using the doors to the loading bay as something to lean on, the three of them watched as the flight crew prepared the chopper.

"What's the difference between fixing a ship and fixing a helicopter?" Kara asked, breaking the silence.

Andrea looked at Danny who was trying not to laugh before looking at Kara.

"You mean apart from the size and the fact that one is airborne and the other is made for the sea?" Kara glared only slightly before nodding.

"Yeah, I mean if you can engineer the ship, surely you can engineer that," Kara gestured to the helicopter.

Andrea took a breath, thinking for a moment. "Yeah, I could technically work on it, but I prefer the ship, I know what everything does,"

Kara seemed happy with the answer as she went back to observing.

The three of them had been stood in a comfortable silence for a while, Danny was on a break, and Kara and Andrea still hadn't been cleared to go back to work, so they spent a lot of time watching others or catching up on what had been happening while they were going through the trials.

Things for Kara and Andrea were going well, they were no longer exhausted, and slowly getting their strength back, they could now eat again, and gradually learning how to walk past sickbay and not cry.

"I, we all know that this ship is amazing, and this crew doesn't fail," Kara started, folding her arms over her chest, a coping mechanism. "But, can I have a baby on a destroyer?"

Andrea heard the younger woman's voice break and had to swallow hard before she answered, hoping her own voice would hold. Turning slightly, she reached out to touch Kara's arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"We will do whatever it takes to make sure you and the baby are okay, even if that means changing a cabin into a nursery, we will do it." Andrea paused, looking at Danny, hoping he'd have something else to add.

"Sweetheart, I get you're scared, I am too, and I know I will never fully understand what you're going through, but nothing will happen without your consent, nothing will happen without someone speaking to you first and above all, you're not going to have to do any of it alone." Danny gave her a smile, before pulling her into a side hug, as much as he wanted to, he knew he couldn't break protocol.

"No matter what, you and the baby are a top priority. No one knows what we're going home too, but Danny is right, it doesn't matter if it's home, here, or some other country, you won't be alone, and we will make sure that the baby is safe," Andrea added, her own hand's shaking slightly as she told Kara that no matter what she wouldn't be alone.

It was something everyone would have to come to terms with. No one knew what home was anymore. Or if that country even existed, nothing was certain about what was happening on land, but out at sea, Andrea was sure that the 200 men and woman onboard the Nathan James would stick together, and that no one was going to have to face hell alone.

"I'm happy, I think deep down I always wanted to be a mum, but, we're in hell right now, and I don't want to bring a life into, whatever we're going back to," Kara admittedly honestly.

Both Andrea and Danny shared a look, neither of them knowing what to say. Andrea knew what it was like to have a child, she knew all the worries and the small things that she would overthink, she knew that right now Kara was experiencing all of those worries, but on a much larger scale. It's one thing to worry about your child's future when you're home, with your husband, with a fully finished nursery, with a hospital five minutes away and a midwife on the other end of the phone, but to have to worry about that on a ship in the middle of the ocean while the rest of the world was suffering, Andrea was sure Kara was at breaking point.

"There are ways…" Danny began, but stopped himself, looking down at Kara.

"No, no, I won't get rid of it…" Kara said after a moment when she realised what her boyfriend was about to say.

"Okay, well, if we're certain we're going to have this baby, then, I think now would be a good time to start making some plans, for every possibility, so that you know for sure that when he or she gets here, they're going to have the best start in life we can give them," Danny suggested.

"Kara, in a hospital, or on this ship, that child will be loved and not just by its parents. I know at least 200 other people who will love that child unconditionally," Andrea said giving her a smile before Kara turned to hug her, maybe it wasn't right, but neither of them had been cleared to work yet, and Kara seemed to really need some comfort.

"I hope so, I really, really hope so."

* * *

"Any update on that submarine?" Mike asked walking in sync with the Captain, heading down to CIC.

"Dr Scott gave the theory it could be those immune to the virus, but, we managed to intercept eleven seconds of audio from the vessel. They sound Russian to me." Tom explained.

"Immunes?" Mike questioned, probably focusing on the wrong part of Tom's sentence.

"Mike,"

"I know, head in the game, but there are people out there immune to this?" Tom nodded.

"According to the good doctor, yes, but I think right now, we need to be more focused on the Russians." Tom sighed, he understood knowing that people could be immune to the Red Flu was going to give everyone a little bit of hope that someone they knew, someone they loved would be immune, and would live to fight another day.

But even with that in mind, they needed to focus on getting home, so that even those who were not immune still stood a chance.

Walking into CIC both men took a moment to catch up with all the activity.

"Captain, XO, we're getting some kind of communication from home, we're not sure who or what it is, and it does sound garbled, but I think you should take a listen," One of them said.

"Well, it can either be good news or bad news, either way, it could give us a clue as to what we're dealing with back on the mainland." Mike put in, he wasn't sure if it was helpful or not, but he was being honest.

From where he stood, he knew that word from home was a good thing, but he also knew the world was fighting the Red Flu, and from the TV footage he'd seen, he had to be cautious, they all did.

"I can't make much of it out, other than 'send help' and something about most of the President's administration has succumbed to the virus," Tom sighed, pulling off the headphones, passing them to Mike to see if he could make out anything else.

"Have you isolated where it's coming from?" Tom asked to anyone who could give him an answer.

They all seemed to shake their heads. "I would have thought D.C, but right now, all we know for sure is that it's from America."

Again, Tom sighed, as much as he wanted to say it was something, he knew it was also nothing. Dr Scott had already told him how eighty percent of the world population was dead, and he had seen first hand how deadly the virus was, both in the tent on the Nathan James and when they picked Tex up from Gitmo.

"I can't make out much more than you, something about an Amy, I think. It sounded like a name, but I could be wrong." Mike pulled off the headphones, nodding the sailor who gave them to him, a way of thanks, before turning to Tom. "If they're still alive and still needing our help they could send out another message, we should keep listening,"

"I agree. Burk, keep your ears open, make sure any communications coming from the US come straight to me."

"Ay, aye, Captain."

"What are you thinking?" Mike asked, again walking in sync with the Captain.

Tom shook his head, "I don't know. I'm going to speak to Rachel, see how she's doing with mass producing the cure, seeing how it needs to be distributed. Even if we don't have a fully functioning government, civilians still need us."

"And the Russians?"

"We keep an eye on them. In the meantime, I think our best course of action from a Military standpoint is to keep our eyes and ears open and try and get in touch with other US Military vessels."

"Aye, Aye."

* * *

"Why just you and Dr Tophet, surely some other scientist would want to be in on this project?" Tom asked Rachel.

He was stood on the outside of her lab, talking to her through plastic sheeting while she worked on one of the machines. He'd gotten past asking what it was she was doing, he had done, in the past, but admittedly, it had all gone over his head.

But, in his defence, he did have bigger things to worry about.

"I'm sure they would now, but this time last year not many of them believed this would happen," Rachel explained without looking up.

"And by 'this' I assume you mean the end of the world?" Rachel nodded, again, not making eye contact.

Tom wanted to make some sarcastic comment about how he assumed they'd all be regretting that now, but he knew it would go down well. After all, people were dying.

"So, why did you fight so hard for it? I mean why fight so hard for anything, if you knew this virus was going to take out everyone, why try and be a hero, you could have just stayed home," Tom began, only be interrupted.

"And watch the world burn?" Rachel put it, finally making eye contact with him. "Captain, I love my job, and because I love my job, when I found out about this virus, it was either save the world or die trying. Believe or not, I am not that different from you. You'd die for your country?"

The captain nodded. It was a no-brainer for him.

"Well, I'd die for the citizens of the world. So, there you have it, something we have in common." Her voice was firm, and Tom picked up on the harsh tone, the way her face hardened when talking about death.

He'd seen that before, in the men he served with, in the higher up's back at the academy, and once or twice in his own reflection. She was hurting, there was something there, a reason, _the_ reason. Tom had learnt early on in his career that everyone had a reason, something that drove them, something that pushed them, even when all else failed everyone had that one thing. He knew his own was pissing off his dad.

He'd joined the Navy to annoy him, and ever since making that decision, whenever times got tough he asked himself 'do you really want your dad to be right?' or 'do you really want to hear I told you so'. He knew his father wouldn't say either of those things, and despite joining the Navy, Tom knew he had a father who was proud of him, but in those moments, it helped and kept him alive.

"Who did you lose?" Tom took a chance on asking, knowing the Doctor well enough now to know he probably wouldn't get a straight answer.

Rachel looked over at him again, but this time instead of answering before carrying on with her work, she put the equipment down, and moved out of her lab, taking off the bio-hazard suit, and taking a few steps forward to stand in front of Tom.

"Who said I lost anyone?" Rachel folded her arms across her chest.

"You did. The way you talk about dying, the way you tell yourself that you'd sacrifice your life for the rest of humanity. It's too easy, you say it like it's nothing, so, who did you lose, what part of you left to make you the person you are today?"

Dr Scott nodded a little, she wasn't expecting him to say that, but even so, it made sense. She talked about death and sacrifice like it was nothing, but then again, that's all she'd been taught.

"My father brought us up as Catholics, we travelled the world, so he could preach. He had some beliefs that I didn't, and, in the end, we lost a lot of people." Rachel said simply, leaving out the key details, but hoping it would be enough for Tom.

"Hm, seems to me like there's more to that story. You've worked with the CDC, WHO, trained in some of the best trauma hospitals in the world, you worked in Camp Bastian, studied at Yale, Oxford, and Cambridge, that's not the resume of someone whose father just had a strong set of beliefs,"

"Why isn't it?" Rachel shot back, her voice raising slightly.

"Can you just be honest for once?" Tom's voice sounded done, like he was done trying, and had jumped right to begging her to just answer one question.

"My mother died." She didn't shout it like she thought she would, instead her voice sounded defeated and lost. "My father didn't believe in vaccinations, we travelled the world, so it was bound to happen at some point. My mother got malaria, she died. That was it, I wanted to save people. I was nine."

Tom stood in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say next. He could tell she'd lost someone, he just didn't know it would be at such an early age, and something that really had shaped her into the person she was today. Losing a parent at nine, and then dedicating your life to curing the viruses of the world always knowing you couldn't save your own mother. It made sense now, or at least some of it did.

Rachel was dedicated, and now Tom knew why.

"Is that the part of the story you were looking for, Captain Chandler?" Rachel asked, her voice harsher than it was, her eyes slightly glazed over with unshed tears.

"I didn't mean to upset you, I was just,"

"You just wanted to know who you were working with." Rachel shrugged, giving him a reason.

"Captain Chandler, I know we're going to have to trust each other, but surely my job history, education and the fact I have found a cure for this virus, should give you a good idea as to how good of a person I am."

Tom again found himself speechless but did take a step forward.

"I don't doubt you're a good person, Rachel. But, we said we would learn to trust each other and to do that, I need to know you, not who you say you are on a sheet of paper." Tom explained, a part of him standing by his reasons, the other part feeling awful because he'd clearly bought up memories and feelings that he shouldn't have.

"I apologise, Captain. Ask whatever questions you like," Rachel sighed.

Tom knew the conversation had gone too far, gotten a little bit too deep, and he couldn't tell if Rachel was being sarcastic or not, but in the moment, he was torn, between making light to the situation, or pushing her even further, but from what he'd seen of Rachel Scott, she was not a woman who liked to be pushed.

"Okay," Tom had always considered himself a literal man. "Question one, why drink that awful tea?"

Rachel couldn't help but smile.

* * *

"Heading to see the Captain?" Mike's voice made Andrea physically jump as he came up behind her in the passageway.

"Don't do that, Mike!" Andrea almost shouted back before answering his question. "And yes, the Captain wanted all three of us, plus Dr Scott."

Mike nodded, he knew that and it was a stupid question to ask, but it was a way to start a conversation.

"You know anything?" Mike asked as they carried on walking. Thankfully, with it being the middle of the night most sailors had retired to their cabins, so there wasn't many of them to avoid.

Andrea shook her head. She had ideas as to why the Captain wanted to see them, and she knew it wasn't because of good news. If it was, it could have waited until morning, and the fact the world was dying, and Dr Scott's presence had been requested, made Andrea feel more like this was bad news than it was anything else.

"Probably a planning meeting. We're running low on food, water, and other supplies. We need to get the ship into dry dock for a few maintenance checks, and Dr Scott needs a better equip lab. If I was to guess, I think the Captain wants to talk about options, where we go from here, and what happens when we get there." Andrea slowed down, still getting used to the fast pace of the ship again.

Mike slowed down alongside her, not wanting to ask if she was okay. Right now, she was still upright a breathing, so he took that as a good sign.

"We need to head home. Let people try and find their loved ones, and for Dr Scott to finish mass producing the cure, then, because we seem to be the only US warship in the ocean, we will probably start some kind of mission to spread the cure, recruiting people, ships, planes and submarines as we go." Mike shrugged, it wasn't the best plan, but it was almost an overview.

From what he'd heard and basic common sense, it seemed like the easiest thing to do. At the very least, Dr Scott needed a better lab, and members of the Nathan James needed answers as to the fate of their loved ones.

Again, Andrea slowed down, coming to a stop just before the Captain's stateroom.

"Do you need me to get you anything?" Mike asked, this time not being able to help it.

"No." Andrea smiled. "I just need to prepare myself for this." She finished.

Mike moved to stand next to her, both leaning against the wall. Mike took a chance, reaching out to hold Andrea's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"They could all be gone by the time we get home,"

"But they could also still be fighting, hanging on and waiting for us," Mike said almost immediately, both of them needed to stay positive. Everyone did.

"I hope you're right, Mike."

Mike hoped he was right too.

* * *

Entering the Captain's stateroom, Dr Scott and the Master Chief was already there, looking between the open folders on the table and the flat screen that showed news clips of various countries who'd been hit by the virus.

"Looks like hell on earth," Mike commented, taking a few steps further into the room, Andrea just behind him.

"I'm sorry to pull you away from your rooms, but we need to talk. We need to establish a plan and look at our options." Tom explained, gesturing for them all to take a seat.

Once they were all sat down it was clear that nothing they discussed would be good. As much as Dr Scott was making progress it wouldn't make up for all the lives already lost.

"We need to make course for the United States. Today, we received a clearer transcript of the message that came through to the ship this morning. Amy Granderson is now running things, as of yet I haven't spoken to Alisha, but I will." Tom paused, making sure everyone was following along with him.

"Dr Scott needs a better lab, and we need a chance to find our loved ones, but we need to make it clear now, and we need to make it clear to the crew that there is a big possibility that we will be redeploying," Tom tried to be firm, but a part of him couldn't be.

This wasn't going to be easy for any of them, himself included.

"I am calculating that it should only take around two weeks to get through the final stages, then, if all goes well, we should have a cure that can hopefully be spread by air as well as through an actual syringe." Rachel put in, looking down at her notebook.

"That means the crew has around the same time to find loved ones."

"It also means we only have two weeks to do all the maintenance needed. Sir, I understand I am not back to my workstation yet, but I trust the team in the engine room, and I trust their judgement. We're good, but we're not that good, two weeks is certainly pushing it. Plus, I think their minds might be elsewhere." Andrea put in. She didn't want to ruin the Captain's plan, but at the same time, it was better he was aware now.

"No, Andrea is right," The Master Chief said. "We can't expect some people to work on this ship while others try to find their loved ones. It's not fair, Captain."

Tom nodded, thinking for a moment.

"Captain, the whole crew is vaccinated, which means they are now immune to the Red Flu. I understand I need to spread this cure worldwide, but if we do need to remain in the U.S longer than two weeks, I can focus more on making the cure airborne, and once that happens, it can be loaded onto planes and helicopters and spread across the country," Rachel tried to explain, understanding that even if the rest of the world needed them, for them to serve the rest of the world, they needed a fully functioning ship.

"We make course for the U.S. Once we are there, we do a damage assessment on the ship, then we plan. Until then, what do we tell the crew?" Tom looked at Mike to see if he had any ideas.

"We keep them in the dark," Mike said, before adding. "It's harsh I know, but with that Russian submarine close by we need everyone to be focused. Once we get closer to land then, we tell them our plans, but here and now, our focus should be making it home in one piece."

"I agree with the XO." The Master Chief said.

"Me too, Sir. As sad as it is, if the Russian's take us out, it's game over." Andrea said.

"Dr Scott?" Tom said, surprising the other three in the room.

"I," Rachel paused. "I need a better lab, so going back to the states is the best choice, and from a psychology standpoint, the crew need to be focused, telling them our plans could disrupt that." Her voice sounded uncertain, but she didn't know what else to say, she didn't think she'd get asked.

"Okay. That's our plan. Stay alive and head home."

* * *

Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you thought.


	13. Chapter 13

**Here and Now.**

 **Part Thirteen.**

I do feel as though I am getting a little lost with the timeline! Although, I hope you can forgive me!

Reviews are loved and appreciated. Enjoy. **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

"Two more days and then you're back to work," Mike said as he approached Andrea in the mess hall.

She was sat alone, in the middle of the night, reading status reports. It was the closest the Captain would let her come to actually doing her job while she recovered.

"I can't wait. I need a distraction from the constant fights and growing tension between our leader and the scientist." Andrea shot back with a smile before gesturing to the seat across from her, hoping he would sit down.

"I don't see it, myself. I've known Tom a long time, seems to go for blondes." Mike joked as he sat down.

"Well, maybe the first was a brunette?" Andrea shrugged. "Wasn't it you who said the first always makes an impression? Plus, I am willing to bet you never dated a red-head after me."

Mike gave her a look before nodding. "Okay, you win. But, you really think it would happen?"

Andrea shook her head, putting the clipboard down and crossing her arms, leaning back against the chair.

"No. I guess it's a difficult situation for us all. The Captain is trying to do what's right from a Navy point of view, and Dr Scott from a medical point of view. Maybe I was wrong to say tension, but I certainly won't miss the fights."

Mike chuckled, thinking for a minute, he was happy he could do this. Sit with Andrea without the awkwardness, without the snappy remarks when one of them asked something a little too personal. It was going to be a while before anything happened between them, but if he could keep on talking to her like this, then he didn't mind. Her company was what he wanted first and foremost. Of course, he wanted her love too, but he didn't mind waiting for it.

He knew from experience Andrea's love and affection was worth waiting for.

"How do you feel about going home? You keep asking me, but I never get the chance to ask you." Andrea spoke up, pulling Mike out of his thoughts.

He shrugged. Honestly, he was trying not to think about it. As much as he wanted the happy reunion with his kids, he knew he may never get it.

"This virus is deadly. I have to assume they're gone. I just hope if they are still fighting that Christine is with them, you know, having your dad deployed is one thing, but then having your mum die, knowing your dad can't come home, I don't want them to go through that." Andrea nodded in understanding.

"I keep praying that if they're gone, Lily went first. So, she wasn't alone in the end, you know?"

"Yeah. I mean, one part of me wants to go and look for them, but the other half wants to stay here. Keep busy. It's a vicious circle really. I don't know if could live knowing my kids and ex-wife are dead, but I don't know if I can live without knowing." Mike said, his voice quiet, strained, on the verge of breaking.

Andrea blinked back a few tears. It had been twenty-five years since she'd seen Mike close to tears.

Reaching forward she put her own hand on his.

"I guess we'll have each other. I mean, it's not the best, but it has to be something right?"

"So, I won't lose you again?" Mike asked with a smile.

"No, I don't think so. Wasn't much of a believer before I went into the tent, but I guess if everything does happen for a reason, then, maybe you can be mine. I want to believe by some miracle that our kids are safe, that our exes are safe, and if they are then I think we both know they become the priority, but if they're not, then, we'll have each other to lean on."

Mike nodded, moving his hand so he was holding hers.

"I like the sound of that.

Andrea gave his hand a squeeze.

"We'll figure this out. One way or another, we will get through this, we will spread that cure and we will rebuild. We'll start over, make new laws where there is no hate, no murder, no poverty, just love and happiness and peace."

"You never did give up on that, huh?" Mike asked, his heart warming as he heard the voice of the woman he left all those years ago. Love, peace, happiness, it had all been the topic of conversation on a Sunday morning.

In the end, Mike realised that Andrea was as tough as nails but still believed the world would reach peace. There was so much too her personality, and Mike was beginning to remember it all. Her father's hate that drove her to the Navy, her love of female empowerment, believing that the world would one day be peaceful. He was beginning to remember it all, and he was hoping it would get him through the next few weeks.

"Well, I needed to keep hold of some hope. Maybe, my hope can be yours for a while, just until we figure out what we're dealing with?" Andrea suggested.

"We all need something, right?"

* * *

Rachel paced the loading bay holding a mug of tea in on hand and a file in the other. Normally, she could fully grasp medical reports, or any report relating to science, but today, was not her day. The data didn't make sense, she'd done everything right, they had a cure and she had a simple job of multiplying it, and she was failing.

Multiplying it seemed to be going well, which was the only positive she had right now. Everything else, or at least the one thing that matter was going terribly. She'd told Captain Chandler she could make the cure airborne, that it could spread via aircraft and spray canisters, but the more she read over the data the more she knew she couldn't deliver on what she'd said.

Dropping her arm, Rachel needed to focus on something more than the black ink on white paper. Taking a sip of her tea she carried on pacing, up and down, up and down, hoping that something would come to her.

It was the only time she worked better at home. Where she could talk to herself and not be considered strange, where she could pace all she wanted, writing on scraps of paper, going through old case notes, hoping they would spark some inspiration, and of course, she could sleep, knowing the lab would still be there tomorrow.

Rachel couldn't do that now. She was on a Navy ship in the middle of the ocean, with a deadly virus taking out humanity. She needed to stay awake. She needed to fix this.

"You look like you could do with a break."

Rachel turned when she heard the voice of the Captain behind her. Her cheeks turning a light shade of red as she realised how comfortable he looked, giving Rachel the impression, he'd been stood there for a while.

"Unfortunately, the Red Flu isn't very sympathetic to my twenty-hour work days." Rachel smiled. The last thing she needed right now was an argument or a deep and meaningful conversation.

Tom chuckled. "Soon enough we won't have to worry about it."

Rachel gave a tight smile. Wishing that Tom's words would reflect how she felt.

"Or am I missing something?" He asked, not moving from where he was stood, although Rachel had to admit, he didn't look as stern as he usually did. Now he seemed calmer, caring almost as if he wanted to help her.

Rachel assumed that all Tom wanted to do was help, but before this moment, she'd never actually seen that portrayed on his face.

"I've just come to a small roadblock. I'm trying my best to overcome it. Nothing a cup of tea and some fresh air won't cure."

"Anything I could help with? I may not be a scientist, but I can stand here and pretend to understand while you vent?" Rachel laughed a little, shaking her head.

"I don't think that will be necessary,"

"Are you sure? My wife says I am very good at faking it."

Rachel shrugged, ready to give it a go, maybe venting would help? Maybe she needed to say it out loud? Anything to help her overcome the obstacle, because, as she kept reminding herself, she had millions of people counting on her.

"We can distribute the cure via a syringe, which, for those who greet us when we make it to port is fine, but I'm having some trouble with making it airborne, so we can load it onto aircrafts and use it as sprays to reach the wider population."

"I have gone over the data so many times and I feel like I am missing something. People need me to be at my best, and if I miss something it's the difference between going home and saving lives and going home and watching everyone suffer." Rachel added. She didn't move from where she was stood facing him.

She didn't feel like she could move and while the ship was big enough, everywhere she went, she still felt trapped.

"What would you do, if you were at home?" Tom asked.

"The same thing I am doing now. Only alone and I would have more time." Rachel answered. Leaving out the part about the scraps of paper and wondering from one room to the next.

"Now really isn't the time to be doubting yourself. You've come this far, and I don't think there is any way you can turn back."

"I'm not doubting myself." Rachel shot back, a little more harshly than intended.

"Really? Because the Dr Scott I saw in those human trials was a lot more confident in her ability. You and Quincey are the only two people who can do this."

"So, what's your advice, Captain Chandler?"

Tom smiled. "Take a breath and do what you came here to do, Dr Scott."

* * *

"I never really asked, but how are things between you and Andrea?" Tom asked as he and Mike walked up to the bridge.

Mike shrugged. He wasn't about to tell Tom about how many rules he'd broken and still planned to break. As much as they were friends, Tom was still his CO.

"We talk. I mean, making sure we get home and finding out the fate of our loved ones comes first, but we're talking." Mike said. It wasn't a lie.

He and Andrea spoke a lot, mainly about finding their families, hoping their kids were okay and how much Andrea hated not being able to work, and of course, them. It felt like they were always trying to set boundaries, always making sure they were still okay, still good, and sometimes it felt like they were both making sure they were still in love, but as long as they were alive, and still talking to each other, Mike felt pretty confident that they'd make it through.

"Well, we all need someone to talk to. Maybe more so once we get closer to land. Just, don't cross the line."

"Wouldn't dream of it, sir," Mike said with a small smirk as they both reached the bridge.

"Master Chief, nice to see you up here," Tom said when he spotted the other man.

Russ held his hands up in mock surrender. "Not here to work, Captain, just observing."

"Of course,"

Much like always, Tom knew there was no point arguing with the man, he would be cleared in a few days anyway, and it was good to see him getting caught up with everything, and of course, giving some confidence to those who needed it. While being the Master Chief he had also always been a mentor of sorts for anyone who needed it.

"XO,"

"Master Chief, good to see you back."

"Thank you, sir. It's good to be back, or at least it will be when I am cleared." Russ smiled, and no one expected any less.

Tom knew all five of them wanted to get back to work, they wanted to be doing something giving them another focus instead of blood tests and constant questions.

Tom wasted no time picking up the phone, gaining the attention of everyone onboard the Nathan James. He knew deep down he could be giving them false hope. Another speech about going home certainly put joy into the crew, but he wasn't sure that he'd get the same reaction this time.

This time no one knew what they were going home too. He knew some members of the crew could do without it, they didn't want to know the fate of friends and family, and then other members of the crew wanted to go home, holding on to the smallest bit of hope that somehow their wife, husband, son, daughter, mother, father, or friend had survived the outbreak.

There was be a mixture of emotions, but this was what needed to happen. Dr Scott needed a better lab, the ship needed to be seaworthy again, and even though it was going to be painful, the fate of loved ones needed to be known.

Tom wasn't going to tell them the plan. The one that seemed far too harsh, the one that gave people two weeks to find out who had survived and who hadn't. All he would say was that the ship was heading for land, to find a lab, to fix the ship and then to spread the cure.

"Good morning, Nathan James. I am pleased to announce that we are now heading home. I understand this may not be the happiest announcement, but I want all of you to know that having discussed this with the top of the chain of command, moving forward the mainland is where we need to be going." Tom took a breath, not having a clear plan of how he was going to explain any of it.

"Dr Scott needs a better lab in order to make the cure more accessible, the Government and military on the mainland need our help, we as a crew need food, water and other supplies, and the ship itself needs maintenance work to ensure it's seaworthy for our next deployment. For now, that is the only information I can give you." Tom paused again.

"Know that all information I receive, you will receive too. This is not a game of secrets, I am just as blind as you. So, we are doing this together. I know when we reach land many of you will want to find loved ones, and I am hoping desperately, that all of you will get the chance to do that. Thank you for your ongoing service and loyalty to this ship, each and every one of you is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your attention."

Tom put the phone down, turning to look at Mike.

"What did you think?"

"It did the job. We're going home, right now, that's all that matters. That's all we need to focus on."

"Couldn't have put it better myself." Tom agreed.

* * *

Tom had been sat on the bridge with Mike for just over eight hours. It wasn't as long as he'd have liked to have been sat there, but he knew he needed to check in with Dr Scott, and try and make some tough decisions about their mission once they got back to the US.

"You got it covered?" Tom asked Mike, a sarcastic tone in his voice.

Mike chuckled. "Got it covered, Captain."

"Get me if you need anything," Tom said, getting out of his chair.

He didn't make it to the hatch before monitors began beeping and Burks voice could be heard over the intercom.

" _Vampire, Vampire, Vampire, missile inbound, I repeat, missile inbound."_

* * *

Let me know everything! Thank you for reading.


	14. Chapter 14

**Here and Now.**

 **Part 14.**

Thank you for all the lovely comments. Reviews, as always, are loved and appreciated.

I hope you enjoy this next instalment, it's not my best work, but I still hope it's readable!

We are getting so close to the end, only a couple of chapters left!  
 **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

"We've done a damage report, Captain. So far, no loss of life, and no major damage to the ship. We're able to keep on course for Norfolk." Alisha informed Tom as they walked through the passageways to his stateroom.

"Keep me informed, Granderson." Alisha gave a nod, before turning around, walking back the way she came.

The sun had now risen fully, which gave the crew chance to see what damage had been done. The helicopter had confirmed the submarine was at the bottom of the ocean, and through binoculars, it was easy to see the smoke trail coming from the Russian ship.

"Quite the speech you made to the Russians, Captain." Mike greeted him outside of his stateroom, referring to the events that took place only a few hours early.

"They launched on us, we avoided four missiles, they knew we'd fight back, we got the sub and the ship, but that clearly wasn't enough," Tom smiled.

They wanted Rachel, that much was obvious. What was more obvious was that they would never get to meet her. As much as the Russian Captain played it out like a legitimate meeting, no one was shallow enough to believe that Rachel would be kept alive once the Russian's had the cure, once they got what they needed to play god.

"We live to fight another day. Now, I think it's time to let these five fight with us." Mike gestured to the door where the five would be waiting to be reinstated.

"I think we could all use their help." Tom agreed, but just before he went to open the door, he stopped.

"Do you think they're ready?"

Mike sighed and shrugged. "They signed up for this, the Navy, the trial, they know how important this mission is now, I think they want to fight, but I think they would tell us if they couldn't. Endangering us isn't a risk I think they'd be willing to take."

Tom understood that. He assumed they wouldn't know until they were working again until they were facing the threats with everyone else. They needed a focus, and for people to stop worrying so much, and while Tom wanted to give that to them, he hoped Mike was right. If they weren't coping, he wanted to give them an out. As far as the Captain was concerned, they had already done the unthinkable, and for that, if they wanted to sit this out, they could.

"They wouldn't want to sit this out if that's what you're thinking. I've known some of them a long time," Mike began.

"You mean Andrea?"

"She has her reasons. Just like we do."

Tom didn't answer that, instead, he walked into his stateroom, ready to give Russ, Andrea, Kara, Miller and Tex the all clear and as much thanks as he could give them for everything they had done so far.

When Tom walked in, all five of them, and Dr Scott stood up.

"Thank you. You can all take a seat, I will try and get through this quickly and then, if myself and Dr Scott are in agreement, you can go back to your workstations," Tom began, taking his seat at the head of the table, taking the sheet of paper that Rachel was holding out for him.

"Any concerns, Dr Scott?" He asked quickly.

Rachel shook her head, "No. Of course, I would like to keep a close eye on Kara, but as per Navy regulations, I don't see any reason why she can't work up to twenty weeks." She then looked through her other file.

"All of them have liquid medication to take for the next seven days, simply to replace their food and drink intake, but it shouldn't have any negative effect, and I trust that should they begin to feel unwell, they will either see me or Doctor Rios." Rachel finished.

"Okay. Master Chief, Granderson is waiting on the bridge to give you a full update on where we are. Lieutenant Commander, Chung is waiting to give you a full debrief in the engine room. Kara, if you and Dr Scott need to work up a plan for your prenatal care you are free to do that, but otherwise, Burk is waiting for you in CIC, and Miller, Green is waiting for you in the loading bay to go through your training." Tom went around all of his enlisted crew.

"Tex, while I appreciate you taking part in these human trials, you are not an official member of this crew, so right now, I was hoping you could help Lieutenant Green with training our officers?"

"Whatever you need, Commodore," Tex replied with a smile.

Tom looked over at Mike, "Anything you'd like to add, XO?"

Mike shook his head. "Nothing other than welcome back."

"Doctor Scott?" Tom looked at Rachel.

"Other than thank you, no, I consider all five fit for duty." Rachel said with a smile.

Tom nodded, before he stood up, waiting for the others around the table to do the same. When they did he waited a moment.

"When we reach land, I will personally see to it that all of you, plus Maya receive the US Navy Medal of Honour for everything you have done. Putting yourself through those trials was what I would call the definition of valour. I personally thank you, the US navy thanks you, as does the CDC and once our mission becomes public, I believe the world will thank you as well." Tom said, hoping his words would mean something.

There was a chorus' of 'sirs' before Tom smiled.

"You all have work to do, so you're dismissed."

* * *

"I'm going to see Kara this evening once her watch is over to do an ultrasound scan. I was hoping I could also have Lieutenant Green present?" Rachel asked as she and Captain stood on the landing deck, looking out at the ocean.

Rachel had needed a break, and Tom, like clockwork had come to check on her progress.

"Of course. I will make sure he knows." Rachel smiled at the answer.

"I know, I must have asked you to break multiple rules and regulations, with both Kara and the Russians, but I think this is more personal," Rachel explained herself. Normally, she wouldn't but since she and Tom had said they needed to trust each other more, she was trying to do what was right.

"No, I understand that. As for the Russians, I am hoping I made it very clear that your feet would be staying firmly on this ship." Tom smiled. "And, I forgive you. What you did was wrong and stupid, but I see why you did it."

Rachel turned to look at him in shock. She was not expecting that but nodded in response.

"Thank you. Captain,"

"Tom, you can call me Tom." Tom interrupted her. He had no ulterior motive, but right now, he just wanted to have a conversation without being referred to as Captain.

"Tom, I did what I thought was right, it wasn't. But, I am hoping since you put a hole in that other ship that we can move past it. After all, I do have some good news."

"Ah, do tell."

"First, I would like to clear some things up, if that's okay. I consider myself a clever woman, but I just want to clarify somethings."

Tom turned himself around, so his back was against the railing, he crossed his arms over his chest and nodded in Rachel's direction, getting the feeling he could be stood there a while.

"I know the plan is to go back to the US, but you spoke about finding other Navy ships, is that still your plan?"

Tom shook his head, "No. I think you need to be here, and right now, we can't find any other ships that can make it back to land faster than we can. Also, you need to keep an eye on people."

"Okay. Next thing, the whole me speaking to the Russians, have we cleared that up, or am I still facing prison time when I've cured the world?" There was a light tone to Rachel's voice, but Tom could tell it was a serious question, which made him slightly confused.

"I don't remember prison being mentioned."

"Oh, it wasn't, but I assumed that I would have some kind of punishment for what I did."

Tom took a moment to think about it. To think about the conversation, he and Rachel had. Both when she communicated with the Russians and how hard he had been with her, and then again when they spoke about her working on another ship, and finally the conversation that felt like yesterday when Rachel opened up about losing her mother.

Maybe Rachel deserved some kind of punishment, but Tom wasn't about to give her one. After all, everyone was doing what they thought was right, what they thought they needed to do in order to survive.

"No. Like you said, you did what you thought was right, and I guess in some cases maybe it would have been, but it's not an issue now. Moving forward, we still trust each other, you keep doing what you do, I'll keep doing my job and hopefully, we will make it home in one piece."

"You say it like it's going to be easy."

Tom chuckled.

"You mean finding that cure was hard?"

Rachel gave him a look and shook her head. "I think I have found a way to make the cure airborne. I would like to test it, but of course, I would need someone who's not already had it, so, I hope that once we get home we will have some people waiting on us, and then it's off to a lab to mass produce both forms of it."

"You say that like it's simple."

"Well, I'm a scientist, Tom. It is simple. It's life-saving and historic,"

Again, Tom interrupted her. "And it's all you."

Rachel pushed herself off the railing, heading to go inside. Tom had learnt by now that Rachel couldn't really take a compliment, but this wasn't a comment about her clothing choices or some research project, he was talking about her saving the world.

"I mean it, Rachel. Dr Tophet helped, so did the six who went into that tent, but everything else. That's all you."

"Well," Rachel stopped just before the loading bay. "Thank you, Captain Chandler. I just hope it all works out."

Tom didn't get the chance to say anything before she disappeared.

Hell, everyone was hoping it would all work out.

* * *

It wasn't often that Mike made his way down to the engine room, and when he did he never stayed too long, but this time he was waiting. His excuse was waiting for the Chief Engineer to give him an update and while that was true, he was also waiting to pull Andrea to the landing deck, so they could talk.

"Checking up on me again, XO?" Andrea pulling him out of his thoughts.

"You could say that. I mean this is your first shift back since the flu. Plus, everyone else's shift has ended, and I am a hundred percent certain that Dr Scott told you not to overdo it." Mike shot back sarcastically.

Andrea laughed. "Not sure how you can over do it by holding a clipboard, but okay."

Mike gestured to the passageway.

"Come on, you deserve a break, and I have an idea." Andrea groan a little.

"If I remember rightly, all your idea's either got me sick, screamed at or terrified, and all of that happened on land, I do not want to go swimming with the sharks. I've been through enough hell for one lifetime,"

Mike gently grabbed her arm, pulling her along. "If you're anything like I remember you'll like it."

Andrea did as she was told and carried on walking. She couldn't say she hated Mike for pulling her away because even though she loved her job and she was still on the ship during the trials, it was a slight shock to the system, but she knew she couldn't admit that.

As much as she had respect, she didn't want people second guessing her, nor did she want to second guess herself. She only hoped that over the next few days things would return to normal, or at least her job would go back to being normal.

Reaching the landing deck, Mike pulled out a cigar from his jacket pocket.

"Seriously. I am sure Dr Scott would kill you if she found out." Andrea glared at him.

"I asked the hypothetical question, as long as you don't inhale, you're good to go." Andrea was slightly shocked that Mike seemed to have gone through the trouble of asking.

"Okay, so this is you trying to relive old times?"

"After every training call, and every bad day you and I would head up to the roof of the apartment building and share a cigar. Now, I know this isn't a training call, but you've had a few bad days, and I think you and I are still something, so why not relive an old tradition?" Mike shrugged.

Andrea smiled, not that she was going to admit it, but it was sweet. Sweet of him to be thinking of her and wanting to relive something that they'd both enjoyed back then.

"You got a light?" Mike asked after a moment.

Andrea frowned a little. "You don't?"

"I was hoping you would. I mean, come on, what kind of engineer doesn't have a light?"

She gave Mike that one as she reached into her uniform pocket producing a small lighter.

"So, today went okay?" Mike asked after lighting the cigar, handing it over to Andrea.

The engineer nodded.

"So, is that a yes it went fine, or an 'I'm going to nod and stay silent, so I don't have to tell you.'?"

"It was okay. Honestly. It's just going to take a day or two to get used to it again. But, if my memory serves me well, we never used to talk about work when doing this," Andrea told him, passing the cigar back after she'd taken a drag.

"Do you want to talk about what we used to back then?" Andrea gave him a smile, both of them knew the answer to that question.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Danny asked Kara as they waited in sickbay. It was hard for Kara to believe that just a week ago this place was filled with plastic sheeting, sick human beings, and her friend's dead body. Now, it would be the place she saw her child for the first time.

Kara was already laid on the bed, Danny sat at the side of her, holding her hand. Maybe a little too tight, but Kara didn't want to complain, she was grateful for him being there, thankful for his support, and right now she was thankful that he seemed more nervous that she did as it gave her something to smile about.

"I'm okay, I just want everything to be okay, you know?" Kara answered him.

"Everything will be okay, you heard what Dr Scott said, the baby will be born immune." Danny tried, but he could see it wasn't working, as much as he was nervous, his nerves were more for Kara, while Kara's nerves were more for their baby.

"I can get Andrea if you like? I'm sure she'd be happy to stay with us, while Dr Scott performs the ultrasound?" Danny suggested, wondering if the Chief Engineer's presence would help.

"As long as you're here, I'll be fine."

"I'm always going to be here," Danny smiled, leaning down to give her a quick kiss before breaking apart.

Only second after their kiss Dr Scott appeared.

"Right, Kara, hi." She said with a smile. "Sorry to keep you waiting," She apologised before taking a few steps closer to the bed.

"Don't worry. I hear you have some pretty important research in that lab of yours." Kara joked.

"Not really, few samples of this, a few samples of that. But, I am here now, so, let's see what this baby is up too. Did we determine how far along you were?"

"Not really, I was assuming that by now I would be around six or seven weeks, but I can't be sure."

Rachel nodded along as she got the machine set up.

"Well, I will give you a more precise answer in a moment. Any other questions while we wait for the machine to start up?" Rachel asked, looking at Danny in particular. She had spoken to Kara a few times over the last few days, ever since they found out she was pregnant.

Kara would ask various questions and Rachel did her best to answer them, but she could tell Danny had things he wanted to say too.

"Have you done this before? You know the scan and prenatal care." Danny asked, again squeezing Kara's hand.

"A few times. Before joining the CDC, I did an eight-month obstetrician and maternity rotation at St Mary's hospital in London, and since then I have performed a few ultrasounds on pregnant women, and I have delivered a few babies. It's not my speciality, but I like to think I know what I am doing." Rachel said, hoping it would help.

"I know it's scary, and I know right now you see me as the scientist, but I will do all I can for both Kara and the baby while on the ship and then when we reach land we will find someone who is a specialist in this area to take over and make sure you are both properly cared for," Rachel tried again to reassure them.

"But if the baby was to be born on the ship?" Danny asked, thinking back to the conversation he's had with Kara and Andrea.

"Then Doctor Rios and I will support you and the baby the best we can. But, right now," Rachel said, picking up a bottle of what looked like jelly, and shaking it a little, then lifting Kara's shirt up just enough to see her stomach, "let's take a look at the little one."

Kara flinched at the cool substance hitting her skin. "Only thought it was cold in the movies," She said, laughed a little.

"Unfortunately not, sorry, I should have warned you. You may feel a little pressure on your bladder as I move the wand around, but I promise I won't press too hard."

There were a few moments of silence as Rachel looked between Kara's stomach on the screen. Both Kara and Danny seemed transfixed on the black and white image, neither of them knowing what they were looking at, but hoping Rachel would tell them soon enough.

"Here we go," Rachel said, pointing to what looked like a dot in the right-hand corner.

"That's the baby?" Kara asked, still not moving her eyes away from the screen.

"Yes, it is. Now, I would say you're correct, you're around seven weeks, which would make a lot of sense." Rachel smiled at the both of them, before continuing to give them some more information.

"I will print these images off for you. Thankfully we are able too, which, I never thought I would do on a Naval Destroyer, but, right now everything looks very normal, I will show all the images to Doctor Rios, just so I have a second set of eyes, but for the moment Kara, I would say everything looks good."

"Shouldn't we be able to hear the heartbeat?" Danny asked.

"From my experience you can hear the heartbeat anywhere from eight weeks, it's not a worry if not, sometimes you can hear it at eight weeks, for other women it's ten weeks, but we will keep a check on you, but for right now, both mother and baby are doing well."

Kara finally pulled her eyes away from the screen, looking at Danny.

"We're both doing okay."

"Yeah, yeah you are."

"We all are," Kara said, tears of joy running down her face.

At least they would get some happiness from this hell.

* * *

That brings us to the end of this chapter. Let me know what you thought. We are getting closer to the end now! Thanks for reading.


	15. Chapter 15

**Here and Now.**

 **Part 15.**

We are so close to the end. I hope you enjoy part 15. Thank you for all the comments. Reviews are loved and appreciated.

Enjoy! **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

Sneaking out was not something Mike wanted to do or even felt like he should be doing. But he knew if someone saw him leaving Andrea's quarters at the crack of dawn rumours would spread like wildfire.

Standing up from the chair he'd slept in, he tried not to groan in pain, chairs, especially the plastic ones the Navy deemed good quality was not the best for sleeping in. He checked his watch and realised that there was no point in waking Andrea, she still had an hour or so before she needed to wake up, and Mike assumed that last night was the first night she'd slept properly in days.

He thought about leaving a note, but both of them knew it would have been wrong for him to stay in the first place, and from all the time they spent sneaking around while they were dating, he knew Andrea wouldn't expect a note, or even think to look for one.

Reaching the door, he tried to be as quiet as possible. Managing to get out of the room and close the door without making too much noise. He moved to the side, leaning against the wall, giving himself a minute to wake up properly before he went back to his own quarters to change, and then begin his watch.

"I'll pretend to be stupid for a minute and assume that you standing there has nothing to do with my Chief Engineer," Mike turned when someone began speaking.

He thought he'd feel more worried seeing Tom, but he wasn't, he knew he had nothing to be worried about.

"But, Captain, you are not stupid, and you don't assume, so why don't you just read me the riot act now, so I can explain and then we can get on with the day?" Mike suggested, still trying to figure out if Tom was being serious or if he was trying to be casual about it.

"Do I need to read you the riot act?" The Captain asked.

Mike shook his head. "No, nothing happened. Yes, I stayed in her cabin, but nothing like that happened."

Tom nodded before his demeanour changed. "Should I be worried about Andrea?"

Mike thought for a moment before shaking his head. What he said was true, nothing happened last night, and Mike knew Andrea well enough to know that nothing intimate would take place between then while on the ship.

"Someone said you and Andrea were smoking a cigar on the landing deck, and then things turned emotional, so you brought her inside, and now I find you leaving her cabin before anyone else is awake. I trust the both of you, so I believe you when you say nothing happened, but I still want to make sure you and Andrea are okay."

Mike could understand that and felt grateful that Tom was being open and almost accepting of the situation.

"You don't need to worry about me, but as for Andrea, she said that once she really gets back into the swing of things she'll be okay; besides we dock in the next forty-eight hours, and like everyone else, it's not going to be the homecoming we wanted," Mike said with a sad smile.

He knew everyone was going to find it hard, no one knew what they were going back too, and people may never know the fate of their family. It was all going to get emotional at some point, but for Andrea and the other four, they were still finding their feet with getting back to work, and as much as Navy training served them well, they were human.

"I'm worried about you because you're worried about her. You and Andrea were together for a while, and it's clear you care. I don't mind that, honestly, like I said, the first ones will always stick with you, but I don't want you caring for Andrea to affect how you do your job."

"I understand, Captain. It wasn't my plan to stay with her, but I thought she needed someone. It won't happen again." Tom nodded.

It was good enough for him, as much as Mike was his friend, and he understood Mike's relationship with Andrea, he still had a ship to run. It was the same with Kara and Danny. For now, he was letting some of it go, letting Danny attend any appointments needed, but still, he was trying not to promote that.

"I think when we redeploy we should reinstate the boundaries. I understand the world is dying, but the lines between personal and professional on this ship are getting a little blurred."

Mike took a breath, "Once everyone has had a chance to find loved one, or at least find out their fate, people may make it their mission to save everyone else. As for Andrea and me, we set boundaries, we did twenty-five years ago, and we have done now. There is nothing more important to either of us than serving the U.S Military."

"That's what I like to hear, XO. But on a personal level, you're both doing okay?"

Mike chuckled. "I think so. She's not dead so that's a start. Everything else about us comes second to the mission, we'll figure it out on our own time."

"Glad to hear it. Now, let's get this crew home."

"Aye, Aye, Captain,"

"Oh, and if I were you, I would go clean up before you head to the bridge, you know this place is like a rumour mill," Tom said with a short laugh as he walked past his XO, heading back to his own room.

"Aye, Aye," Mike muttered before going in the opposite direction.

* * *

"Rachel," Rachel heard her name being called down the passageway.

Stopping and turning to see who it was, she smiled when she saw Quincey.

"Dr Tophet, I thought you'd be catching up on sleep?" She asked when he caught up with her.

"No, are you heading to the lab?" Rachel nodded. "Okay, I need to speak with you."

Rachel nodded again. It sounded serious, but then again, she had worked with Quincey for a few years now. The man was always serious unless speaking about his daughter, then he seemed capable of a range of emotions.

"Is everything okay? Have you heard from Kelly or Ava?" Rachel asked referring to his wife and daughter.

She had been shocked when he had agreed to the mission, not because of the work, Dr Tophet was as dedicated as she was, but because of his wife and child. Rachel had no family to leave behind, only a mentor and a few friends she saw every now and again, she didn't have a partner or a child, this was easy for her, and seemingly easy for Quincey too, but she knew deep down it would have gotten to him.

"Not yet," Quincy answered as they stepped into their make-shift lab.

"Look, I know we dock in a matter of days, and I know we need to spread the cure, but you are certain you can make it airborne, and the crew can give out the syringes and administer it if needs be. A plan is in place,"

Rachel frowned, "So, what are you saying?"

"Let me take some of it, let me travel back to London to find my family. I will spread the cure as I go, just like we planned back at the CDC. We always knew we would go our separate ways when we found a cure. Everyone in the world is sick, so we skipped the vaccine part of our plan, but I can take some of that too, to further prevent spreading, but, Rachel," He paused, and Rachel knew what was coming. "I won't redeploy with you and this crew, I will be going to find my wife and daughter."

Rachel sighed, "The vaccine is redundant. The cure if more effective, and those who are immune should we not see a new phenomenon, will remain immune. I will set up a case of syringes for you to take." There was no point in arguing with him, despite the first shock she felt.

Despite the lack of emotion in his voice, Rachel could tell he wanted to go home, and she couldn't blame him.

"I thought it would be harder to convince you, Rachel." Rachel chuckled.

"I did too, but, Kelly and Ava could still be out there, and I guess as long as you can assure me you will be spreading that cure across the U.K, then, who am I to stop you? My mission was the spread the cure, your mission was to help me create it, and, Dr Tophet, you have helped me do that." Rachel nodded.

It had been months since she'd thought about their plan back at the lab in the CDC building. Before every mission they had a plan, needless to say, this one wasn't followed to the letter, but, Dr Scott did make a mental note to dig it out of her files later, to go over it and see how far off script they really did go.

"Just remember to mention me in your victory speech."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Oh, Dr Scott, I am sure you would."

Rachel smiled, "Maybe, maybe not, but either way, you deserve the credit, after all, you left a lot behind to do this, so, I wish you look in finding your wife and daughter, with all you've taught them about outbreak survival, I am sure they'll be getting through it."

"Yeah, I keep telling myself they did."

Rachel reached across and put a hand on his shoulder.

"We all need something to hold onto. I really do hope you find them, Quincey."

* * *

The Captain had gathered everyone into the mess hall. He knew it would have been easier to it in a bigger space, but it was too late now, most of the crew were in the hall already and he could see some standing in the passageway, hoping to hear him.

"I know all of you are anxious about returning home. I also want you to know that all the emotions you are feeling right now are understandable." He began. "Our mission still stands, we ensure Dr Scott can find a lab and we spread the cure that she is currently mass producing."

Tom waited a moment, scanning the men and woman both sat and stood in front of him.

"We are heading back to Norfolk, and so far, the only information we have is that the base is still in tack and that the lab at the medical centre is still fully functioning. This also means there is a chance that your friends and families may still be there," Tom paused taking in the looks of hope and prayers on the faces of his crew.

This wasn't going to be easy. He quickly cast his mind back to the conversation he had with Rachel, Mike, Andrea, and Russ. He knew two weeks wasn't very long to get definitive answers, but right now, it was all he could give them.

"When we dock, there will be duties you need to carry out. The ship needs maintenance and supplies need replenishing, on top of that, Dr's Scott and Tophet will need protection, but, you will also have an opportunity to use all of the Naval resources to locate your loved one."

The Tom knew he needed to deliver the unwelcome news that they only had a period of fourteen days. "We will remain on land for two weeks, before deploying. Right now, I have been told two weeks is long enough to do the maintenance, which is thankfully not serious and build up our supplies. Any longer than that and you will be informed," Tom was about to go on, but he was interrupted.

"Wait, Sir, you're expecting us all to redeploy?" Alisha asked.

Tom glanced over at Mike, neither of them were expecting the question to come from her.

"As of right now, yes. This mission had no definite plan, we lost contact with both the government and the military, we are essentially operating blind. As devastating as this all is, we need to spread the cure, and if we cannot find our loved ones here, there are other human beings out there who need our help."

The room fell silent.

"Those of you who wish to remain on land to find loved ones, raise your hand," Mike said.

A sea of hands shot up, and Tom closed his eyes momentarily.

"Those willing to serve once they have found out the fate of their loved ones, raise your hand." Again, a sea of hands shot up.

Tom thought for a moment, he needed to be the leader of this crew, but putting that aside, he was a husband, a father, a son, and a brother, he had to look at it from their point of view.

"Okay. Our first order of business is to dock and get Dr Scott set up. Then we need to ensure the correct work is done in order to make the ship seaworthy, and our supplies need to be restocked. Then, each of you can personally try to find loved ones and at the end of those two weeks, you will be able to make your decision, with no prejudice from any of this crew, on whether you want to stay on land or redeploy."

"Dismissed."

Once people began to file out the room, Mike, Andrea, and Russ made their way over to Tom.

"We may have just lost half of our crew." Mike pointed out.

"Yes, we did. But wasn't it you who told me that we can't play god? Mike, they have families, so do you, and so do I, we need to let them make their own decisions." They all nodded.

Tom was right, none of them could play God.

As Mike and Andrea walked out, Mike grabbed her arm, pulling her to the side.

"When I asked who wished to go and find their families, you didn't raise your hand."

"You're right," Andrea said. "I didn't."

* * *

"Captain, the helicopter is up, scanning the base now. So far it looks abandoned, we have about an hour until we dock." Tom nodded from his chair.

"Keep me posted, Granderson." He said, expecting the young woman to walk away, but instead, she stayed put.

"Something else?" Tom prompted when she didn't say anything.

"I didn't mean to cause any distrust earlier, Sir. I shouldn't have spoken out like I did." Tom sighed but smiled.

"No, you did what you had to. If you want an answer to something, you must ask the question. It would have been wrong of me to assume everyone would join this crew to redeploy." Tom admitted.

"I will be, Sir, and in all honesty, I think a lot of us will be. Finding loved ones or not, we all need something to focus on, something to stop us going insane, working on a destroyer gives you that."

"Thank you for the reassurance, Alisha. Now, let's hope we have a welcoming party when we get home."

"Yes, Sir."

After an hour of constant scanning and manoeuvring a Navy ship, the crew made land.

"Captain Chandler," Rachel addressed him as she stood with him on the bridge deck, looking out at the dock.

"Rachel, we may have a problem."

Rachel followed his line of sight, "This place looks abandoned."

"That's because it is. Green and his team searched the place while we docked, a few dead bodies, but otherwise abandoned. The helicopter did a sweep, nothing by bodies for a ten-mile radius."

Tom felt Rachel tense up and did something he knew he shouldn't have. Reaching out, he grabbed her hand squeezing it gently.

Tom felt other members of the crew join the two of them, so he let go of her hand. Mike and Andrea, he was sure he heard the Master Chief and Granderson, along with Burk.

"Captain. We could be too late," She said.

"There is only one way to find out."

They needed to disembark, and then they needed to figure out where to go next. He knew the world was being taken alive by the Red Flu, he just never realised it would come to this.

Andrea felt tears burning in the corners of her eyes and then felt Mike grab her hand. Neither of them said anything because upon seeing and hearing the devastation, there was nothing to say.

Everyone just said a silent prayer that somehow, somewhere, someone would show up and lead them to everyone else.

* * *

We have come to the end of part 15. Let me know what you think. We're close to the end now! Thank you for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

**Here and Now.**

 **Part 16.**

This is it! This is the end. Again, it's not my best work, but after a load of coursework was put on my desk, I do have to prioritise! I hope this is a good enough ending.

Thank you for all the lovely reviews! Let me know what you think of this final chapter. Enjoy!

 **Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

* * *

"We have sent out a broadcast, Captain. Upon doing some research Norfolk Naval Base used to have fully active bunkers during the first World War, most of the crew are hoping that their families found that out before the outbreak got too severe." Alisha informed the Captain.

"All we can do now is wait. Andrea, I know you want to get started on maintenance, but we can't until we have a place to house the crew."

Andrea nodded in understanding. "We have begun some of the minor work, but the ship needs to be in dry dock and out of the water for some of the external work. It's not the news you want to hear, but I think we are looking more at four weeks rather than two, just because of the times it's taking to make the work safe."

"I understand. Green and some others are looking for a place that is safe enough for us. Dr Scott is currently familiarising herself with the base lab, I will go and get an update later, and hopefully, by that time we will have found someone, anyone who can hopefully lead us to others." Tom said, his voice sad and defeated.

It was how they were all feeling. They had put so much effort into getting home in one piece, and none of it was easy, despite the fight with the Russians, crew members had been unwell, both physically and mentally, the weather had played a part, and the human trials.

The crew of the Nathan James knew it wouldn't get the happy homecoming they all wanted, but they hoped someone would be there, someone would want to welcome the crew home.

"For now, Captain, I suggest we," Russ paused. "We begin to let the crew disembark. Many of them lived on base, maybe by some miracle, their homes are still in relatively good condition, they could try and find some personal items and maybe an idea as to where their loved ones may have gone."

There was a moment of silence. The Master Chief was right, they were home. Norfolk was home to a lot of them, and Tom had to admit it had never crossed his mind to go back home and see the state it was in and find some personal belongings.

"Master Chief, I trust that you can organise that?" Tom asked.

"Of course, Captain. If you'll excuse me, I will go and set that up now." He answered before getting up from the table and leaving Tom's stateroom.

That left only the Captain, XO and Chief Engineer.

None of them had any words, none of them could fully process what was going on, or what the future held. It was one thing coming back to a base that was empty, but it was another to sit and admit that the people you loved most, the people you said you would come home to, may be gone.

"We all heard Granderson, this place has bunkers, and they are all military families," Mike began, but stopped, shaking his head. He was trying to make sense of it like everyone else, holding onto every single possibility that somehow people were still out there.

"Dr Scott said some people may be immune to this virus, I mean, should we send the helicopter crew out on a wider search?" Mike asked after a moment of composing himself.

Tom shrugged. "It's worth a try, but I think our best hope right now is sending out a broadcast. We still don't know what state the government or military is in, which means, that the people on land could have turned to the worst form of governing to ensure the safety of their citizens,"

Andrea looked up tears in her eyes. "What do you mean?"

Both Tom and Mike shared a look before Mike answered her. "He means head counts, lock-ins and curfews, it's a way to keep people safe, but," Again Mike paused but Andrea had figured it out for herself.

"You mean like a prison?" Both men nodded. "Oh my god, people must be terrified."

Silence settled in the room again, all three of them barely holding it together, just enough to show emotion but to be open to any news they got from their crew. The sun was getting higher, and soon enough Tom knew the crew would get restless, some of them had jobs but there was only so many times they could check and re-check their systems.

It was only a matter of time before they wanted to leave, try and find their families, or at least an answer to what may have happened to them.

"Let's look at where we are," Tom announced, standing up from his chair. He needed to do something other than just sit there.

"I got word just before Alisha came in, work to the inside of the ship should be done by nightfall. Then, I will debrief with the engineers and we will make a plan to begin work as soon as Nathan James is in dry dock." Andrea started, engineering was vital, and although nothing would change how fast the ship got into dry dock, she knew that one certainty was that the ship was not yet seaworthy.

"From experience, how long, from getting this ship out of the water to getting it back in?" The Captain asked.

"With or without a sea trial, Sir?" Andrea asked.

"With." Tom knew they couldn't skip that bit out.

"I would say three weeks for the work, and then, should the crew be prepared, then we can do a one-week sea trial, but the trial would only be focused on engineering," Andrea said, glancing at Mike who wore the same look of defeat and concern that she did.

"That's will have to work. So, we have engineering in the works, Granderson and CIC are sending out broadcasts,"

"Yeah, so far we haven't heard much, but Green and the alpha team are going to see if they can find some blueprints for the Navy Yard and try to find an entrance to those bunkers, when they've found suitable housing for the crew, which, from the report, looks like we could be sleeping in the student accommodation building," Mike carried on.

"And then, Dr Scott is in the lab, hopefully, ready to give us some good news. Mike, go and help the Master Chief sort the crew. I think it would be best to ensure we have accommodation first, then we can let them go. Andrea, I know the answer, but I would like to clarify," Tom paused, looking at the Chief Engineer.

"Is there any way we can stay on the ship while work is being done to the exterior?" Andrea thought for a moment, going through all the possibilities in her mind, which clearly made Tom and Mike a little hopeful.

"It's a long shot, and not all two-hundred of us and certainly not with Dr Scott's lab on board, but yes, give me thirty minutes to talk to Chung and then other guys and I can give you some calculations and restrictions."

"Andrea, that may just be the best news I hear today."

"Thank you, both of you. Let me know if you need anything. I'll be leaving the ship at sixteen hundred to check in on Dr Scott's progress, you can get me by radio."

"Yes, sir."

Just before Mike and Andrea could leave the room Alisha came in without knocking, which Tom was about to call her out on, but what she said stunned them all.

"They're alive. The bunker is fully functioning, Green and the others found it, there are people down there, sir,"

* * *

Mike and Andrea had been in the Captain's stateroom for more than an hour after Alisha told them the news. People were out there, people were alive.

"Can we talk?" Mike asked Andrea as they both made their way through the ship, Mike knew he should have been going to the bridge, but he was too worried about Andrea to focus on the job.

"Hm, what's on your mind?" Andrea asked.

"What you said the other day about not going to find Lily,"

"I never said that," Andrea interrupted, going on the defensive, this wasn't a conversation she wanted to have right now.

"Okay, well it was implied. But, people have survived this, people in that bunker, I mean Lily could be one of them," Mike's couldn't keep his voice level, he was nervous and excited, knowing that Christine and his kids could still be alive after all this time.

"And she could be dead. I don't know if I can go out there looking for her."

Mike reached over to take Andrea's hand, pulling her gently to a stop, before moving to the side of the passageway, not that it gave them any privacy, but Mike knew it would be too much trouble going back to either of their cabins.

"Andrea, Lily is a tough kid, you said so yourself, and as much as you and Bill had your differences, he would have done what was right for Lily. Alisha said, close to five hundred people are living in that bunker." Mike wasn't sure what he was trying to achieve, or what he wanted her response to be.

"Mike, how many people live on this base?"

Mike didn't have an answer, because he knew where this was going.

"If someone comes to tell me that she is still alive, then okay, but I can't go out there and look myself. I don't know if I can know, I don't know if I can live with the certainty that there is never a chance of me seeing her again. Mike," Andrea paused. "When I was in that tent,"

"I know what I said, but this is different,"

"How? It's still love and affection, it's all the same emotion. She is my child and she is my everything, and I would rather live, believing one day ten years from now I will find her, than knowing she is gone and then having to go and save everyone else."

"I'm going with the Master Chief to the bunker, if I find her or Bill, I'll send someone to come and get you."

"You need to focus on finding your own family, Mike, and right now, I need to focus on doing my job," Andrea said, wanting to leave it there, but Mike wouldn't walk away.

"Are you going to be okay?" It was a stupid question for Mike to asked.

Andrea gave a small smile, but shrugged, honestly, she didn't know. Since the trial she would wake up, some days thankful to be alive and other days wishing the virus had taken her. It came and went, the feeling of hopelessness, mixed with the feeling of hope. It was all about trying to find balance, but the lines between personal and professional were too blurred for her to separate her feelings as an engineer and her feelings as a mother.

"Good days and bad days, I guess."

"I'm here, whenever you need me." She truly did believe Mike, she always had and now was no different.

"Go, find your family, hug your kids. We both said that we come second to everything else, and right now, we are dealing with everything else."

"Here and Now,"

"Yes, Commander Slattery, here and now."

* * *

"I have to admit," Tom said as he walked into the lab Rachel was currently setting up. "Lived on this base for the last fifteen years and never set foot in this lab."

Rachel carried on what she was doing, seeing no point in turning to acknowledge him, but still answering him.

"Well, I'm not sure you would have had any reason too. At the end of the day, our worlds are very different, up until a few months ago I had never set foot on a Navy ship despite the CDC having a contract with the US Navy."

"But, we have a common goal, so I guess that is something for us to work on." Tom smiled, taking a few steps forward. Of course, it looked a lot different from the one on the ship, but that was always make-shift, and often did look out of place in the loading bay.

"Where's Dr Tophet?" Tom asked after a moment.

Rachel didn't freeze exactly, but she did pause for a moment. She had said that everything would be fine, and she knew she could spread the cure with the crew on her own, but she knew Tom wanted honesty, and she had known for two days.

Quincey had left not long after Rachel got to the lab. When Danny and his team left, there was time for Rachel to give him what he needed and then see him off. She wondered how far he'd gotten, there were cars on the roads still, and although Quincey said he would find a way, Rachel couldn't help but feel like she would see him again in a matter of days unable to find a way home and was left simply driving around.

"He left. He wanted to head back to the U.K, I don't know how far he's got or how far he will get, but his job was to help me make the cure, and he has." Rachel said, finally stopping to look at Tom.

"Okay, well, I am sure you can give me more of an explanation later,"

"There is nothing to explain, Captain. He did what he needed to do, and now he will spread the cure as he makes his way back to England." Rachel made it clear that there was not going to be a bigger explanation.

Tom sighed, "Fine. Right now, we need the cure, whatever version you have."

"I'm getting it ready along with some food and drink supplements for those in the bunker. The first case holds fifty syringes and, I would say within the next hour I can do two more."

"Would it help if I got you a definite number?" Tom asked.

Rachel thought for a moment. "Possibly. I am trying to make this airborne, and I am in the final stages of doing that, of course, I need a plane and some test subjects, but I will have the liquid version of the cure ready for when you need it."

"Thank you, Dr Scott."

"Pleasure, Captain Chandler."

"We'll talk more about Dr Tophet later," Tom shouted back as he made his way out of the door.

Rachel chuckled to herself, she wished she had some other reason for him, but people did what they needed to do, she thought Tom of all people would understand that.

Turning back to her work, she gave herself a few moments to realise what was happening. They were home, or at least the crew were, and with a bit of luck families were in that bunker, families who could be reunited with loved ones, and as much as she didn't want to be self-centred, it did make her smile that she played a part in all of it.

For her it was simple, she did her job, in this case, her job was to save pretty much everyone, she saw it no different to how she saw every other mission. Maybe this one would go down in history, but she had never been one for history books, nor publicity, so for now, she told herself she would keep on working and do her job, nothing else was important.

* * *

 **Four weeks later.**

Andrea sat in her cabin, staring at the little picture she kept with her. It was of Lily's tenth birthday; the last one she was there for. She looked so happy and at peace, smiling as he friends played in the background. Andrea had a whole stack of family photo's but this one was the last one she took. It was the last physical memory she had of her little girl.

There was a knock at the door. She knew it would come sooner or later. It was probably Mike, maybe the Captain, or the Master Chief, each coming to check up on her again.

Getting up, she took a few steps over to the door, ready to pull it open, but catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror first. Stopping she took a deep breath, moving so she could see herself fully. Wiping away a few tears she told herself that this was her choice. Her choice to deploy, her choice to take part in the trials, her choice not to go looking for her little girl and her choice to hear what the Master Chief had to say four weeks ago when he walked into her cabin, a mug of tea in one hand and a bible in the other.

" _I am so, so sorry, Andrea."_

Another knock at the door pulled her away from staring at her own reflection. This time she didn't stop, she pulled the door open, looking up to see who it was.

Mike.

"I thought you'd be with the Captain?" She asked.

Mike still hadn't gotten answers. Christine and his kids weren't in the bunker, but according to some of the others, they weren't on base when the outbreak hit, they'd gone up north to visit Christine's parents.

"I was, he's working with Dr Scott and Dr Rios to come up with a plan of action. We need a list of places to go. I wanted to see you. You've been in here for four weeks, and I was beginning to worry." Andrea smiled, at least he cared about her.

"Come in," Andrea stepped to the side. "I mean, I'm okay, and I'm not going to do anything stupid if that's what you're worried about. I'm preparing for this mission like everyone else."

Mike nodded, taking a seat on the bed while Andrea leant up against the wall.

"Anything I can do to help?" Mike asked.

When Andrea stayed quiet Mike spoke up again, "Andrea, I don't know what you're going through right now, but I want to help,"

"You've got it worse than me, still not knowing,"

Mike shook his head. "We're not talking about me, right now."

"Just tell me that one day it's all going to be okay."

Mike let out a breath, getting up from the bed, reaching out towards the woman in front of him. Tears already spilling over and rolling down her cheeks.

Pulling her into his arms, he held her close. "One day, I promise you, it's all going to be okay."

* * *

Across the base, in the student accommodation that the crew had called home for four weeks, Danny stood with Kara in his arms. Kara's mum and sister had made it to the bunker in time, and Danny's sister was there too. He still didn't know the fate of his parents, but at least he had people he loved in there.

Kara's mum, sister, and as Danny kept joking, future sister-in-law had given them some time alone.

"We'll be okay, you know. My mum is already set on this new grandchild, organic food and gentle parenting and whatever else she keeps going on about." Kara reassured him, not moving her head from his chest.

"I'm just happy to know you've got people here. I wish I could stay."

Kara lifted her head, "Me too, but we both know you need to be out there. Dr Scott and the Captain have kept us both safe this far, so I think they can bring you back to me," She paused, "Back to us."

Danny nodded, taking a deep breath, trying hard not to let Kara see him cry.

"Don't worry, Lieutenant. Everything's going to be just fine." Kara said before leaning up to kiss him.

Danny nodded, he had so many things he wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't, everything felt so final, and he wanted nothing more than to stay with Kara, be there for her, hold her and love her, but she was right, everything would be fine, and he would come home to a beautiful girlfriend and a child.

"I love you both so much, I promise I will call whenever I can."

"I love you too, Danny. Just, do what you have to do so that you can come home, we'll both be waiting."

They said goodbye and kissed one more time before Danny knew he had to leave.

"Stay safe and come home to us."

"I love you, Kara." Danny's voice broke a little as he said those final words before leaving the room. A silent promise that he would be back as soon as he could.

* * *

Rachel was in the middle of getting the onboard lab fully running again when she heard Tom's voice over the ships intercom system.

"Good evening Nathan James. After almost five weeks at home, we are redeploying. Our mission is simple, spread the cure for the Red Flu. Our first stop will be Europe, and from there we will keep making our way east. As we are the only ship currently running we may also be responding to fresh outbreaks. You will all be kept informed."

Rachel stopped what she was doing, she could hear the strain in his voice. They had spoken a few days previous, both of them not fully overjoyed at pulling the crew away from their loved ones when they had only just gotten them back, but both of them had agreed that what they were doing was the right thing, even if it meant the Captain leaving his wife and kids again.

"Our mission is to run for six months, and I hope that after that six months we can return home and assist our loved ones and our newly formed government with the rebuilding efforts. I want to thank all of you for redeploying again, I know the decision couldn't have been an easy one,"

Rachel chuckled at that. Even for her, it was a tough decision, and she had no one.

"But, I am grateful for every single one of you. Thank you for your attention."

Rachel waited a moment, she knew at some point she would have another conversation with Tom, trying to finalise a plan that would never be final, but she would try her best. Whatever happened next, the Captain was right, they had a mission, they needed to spread that cure, and that was what, come hell or high water, they were going to do.

* * *

"Ready to do this again, XO?" Andrea asked Mike as the pair of them stood on the landing deck.

Mike sighed, "I guess. I mean, did we really have a choice. I know what the Captain said, but would you want to be the one to say no?" Mike asked, a smile on his face.

"Fair enough, but in all seriousness, are you okay?" Andrea wanted to know, for reassurance more than anything, Mike would spend the next six months not knowing what happened to his ex-wife and three kids, and even with everything Andrea had said about knowing or not knowing, she knew at some point it would get to him.

"I've still got you, as much as you hate it, I consider it to be something."

Andrea blushed a little.

"Well, I am happy to help whenever I can. And, for the record, I don't hate it, I just want to keep my, or our private life private." Mike nodded in understanding and agreement.

A silence settled between the two of them, as the watched the waves hit the side of the ship as they moved further and further away from the port.

"I need to give you something," Mike said, reaching into his pocket.

"Now," He said before Andrea could say anything. "Don't jump the gun, but, I want you to have this." He said pulling out the small velvet box that had been in his pocket.

"Mike,"

"It's not a proposal, or at least it's not now, it should have been twenty-five years ago." He explained quickly.

Andrea took the box from his hand, opening it. Her jaw almost hit the floor, but she managed to keep her composure.

"How long have you had this?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Got it the week after we first kissed, I knew white dresses were not your thing, but, I guess, it was never supposed to be a proposal, more of a commitment without the white gown, wedding guests and cake." Mike was trying to keep his voice firm, but he could feel the emotion building.

"It's beautiful," Andrea smiled. "I don't know what to say, though." She admitted.

Mike reached out to take her hand, "I don't want you to say anything, and I don't want you to think this is a serious commitment, I just, I've had it the twenty-five years and when I nearly lost you again, I realised that I should have given it to you a long time ago. If you need a meaning behind it, then take it as a commitment to the here and now."

Andrea couldn't help but let her eyes fill up with tears.

"Here and now sounds like a pretty good thing to commit to." Andrea agreed.

"I know this isn't the most romantic place to say it, and it's not the right time, but, I love you, Andrea."

"I love you too, Mike."

* * *

That's it! We're done! A little bit of a happy ending for these two. Let me know what you thought! Thank you so much for reading. Until next time, Bethany.


End file.
